Ties of Fate
by Seraph Koji
Summary: Set parallel to the events of YuGiOh!, showing that there is much more going on in this world than even the Pharoah knows. Whatever will become of Raven Vaniver and Kaomi Itai? What will become of the Pharaoh? What will become of Earth, itself?
1. Introduction

Introduction:

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Seraph!

Here, at least, I'm known as Seraph Koji, and due to the course my story has taken, and a suggestion or two from readers, I have compressed the sequels into a single story. Seeing a tie binding the six/seven parts together, it made sense to make it into a single multipart story. rather than several single stories. Also, I've tried to shorten up the chapters again, but as has always seemed the problem, this story 'chapter divisions', those natural parts of a story that have the proper intervals in the story to dived it into chapters, is way to hard for me to see. Anyway, I tried. So, after slight reforms, Raven's journeys is better than ever, back with a vengeance, and all those things. Also, this story has some original cards used, but once the story is complete, I'll create an index of them. Also, there's a bit of author's commentary before each new part of the story.

Without further ado, "Ties of Fate", by Seraph Koji.


	2. Part I

Part I 

The Battle City Experience

Well, Part One is set right alongside Battle City. I started writing this under the pen name William the Bloody at forums during the first half of the Battle City Finals. And if you are unfamiliar with my work, I try to honor my source material, meaning the show's resolution to Battle City stands, whatever spoiler that may be This is my simple introduction. Fairly light on plot. You may also note lax character descriptions in all of Ties of Fate, well, that's my style. I leave a lot to the reader's mind. Well, here it it, "The Battle City Experience!".


	3. Battle City Glory

Raven Vaniver and his greatest friend since childhood Kaomi Itai stepped into the sunlight. It was a warm day, but not uncomfortably so. Perfect for Seto Kaiba's tournament. Raven was a lucky one. Kaomi, who was invited, managed to bribe the Duel Disk salesman to give a Disk to the boy Kaiba had no real record of. By slipping the salesman some cash and flaunting her good looks, Kaomi succeeded. Kaomi had ranked in the top sixteen nationally and did well in Duelist Kingdom. Made a name for herself. Raven never played in a tournament, but had taken her down a few times in casual play.

"I gotta go challenge hunting, Raven, coming with?" Kaomi smiled. Kaomi was beautiful. She had flowing blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. She was dressed in her Domino High uniform, and it looked good on her.

"Yeah!" Raven nodded. Kaomi and Raven agreed not to face one another until the top eight. Both felt confident they'd make it. Kaomi and Raven ran off, duel discs ready. Raven had short brown hair and light green eyes, and was also in his uniform. They figured it would set the two of them apart.

They searched for maybe an hour, stopping for a moment to peak at a promising duel between some psychic and some weird blonde guy. The psychic was sporting a handy card, Jinzo. Kaomi predicted the blonde guy would loose after a few turns. Kaomi and Raven continued on into a park where a boy sat in a tree. His eyes made direct contact with Kaomi.

"Kaomi Itai. Long time." he grinned, and jumped down. He had unkempt black hair and wore a black shirt, blue jeans, and a blue jean jacket. His eyes were a dull brown. Raven already decided he did not like this stranger.

"Arkith." Kaomi scowled. Arkith had beaten her in the National Championship and moved to the top eight in her place.

"That's Arkith?" Raven looked at him.

"I want a rematch, here and now, boy!" Kaomi gave a cold stare to Arkith.

"No problem."

Kaomi and Arkith activated their Disks. Kaomi shoved her deck into the slot forcefully, whereas Arkith gently set his in.

"Duel!" They both announced.

"Its courtesy to let the one who lost the last duel goes first, Arkith." Kaomi drew her hand. She smiled. "I set a monster in defense and a card face-down. Go." Two cards popped into existence in front of her.

Arkith grinned. "I summon Wolf Axeweilder in attack position! And I'll send it after your defensive monster!" A wolf appeared and charged at Kaomi's card. The wolf slashed and a large rat shattered.

"Bubonic Vermin effect activated! I summon another in face down defense position." Kaomi drew, "And I'll flip it into attack, activating its effect again." A rat appeared in the grassy park and a horizontal card appeared next to it, "I'll tribute my face up one to summon Patrician of Darkness!" A large caped blue-skinned being came forth. "I'll have my Patrician attack your Axeweilder!" The Patrician flew at the Axeweilder and slashed through it, shattering it.

"NO!" Arkith reached out, "You'll pay for that." Arkith drew, and a smile tugged at his lips, but he fought to hide it, "So, you're attacker is mighty, there is no doubt." he placed a monster in defense mode, "But an attack can't solve all problems, Kaomi."

Kaomi drew, "Heh, I beg to differ. Sacrifice the final Vermin to summon the Shadow Ghoul! With the three Vermin in my Graveyard, my Ghoul has 1900 attack power." Kaomi's eyes narrowed, "Shadow Ghoul, ATTACK!"

"I tried to warn you, Kaomi. You never listen!" Arkith sighed.

The Ghoul flew through the defensive monster, which appeared to be a boat, and both monsters shattered.

"What? My Ghoul!" Kaomi's eyes widened.

"The Yomi Ship takes its attacker to the Graveyard with it. You should have listened. Just like then." Arkith shrugged.

"Now is nothing like that! This time I'm going to limit your life points early! Patrician, ATTACK!" The Patrician flew at Arkith, but a small fur ball blocked the blast.

"By discarding Kuriboh from my hand I can have it take the heat off me. I shall remain at 3650." Arkith drew a card, "I set two cards face down and set this monster in defense mode."

_He's so defensive now. I'll bet it's another effect monster!_ Raven thought.

Kaomi scowled. "I have my Patrician attack!" Patrician attacked, and it was flung back. A barrel stood where Arkith's card was.

"Roulette Barrel has the same number of defense points as the Patrician, effectively hauling your attack." he drew, "I activate my barrel's effect! Destruction Roulette!" The Barrel turned on its side where numbers one through six lined the outside of the circle. A pointer on that side began to spin. "The number my Barrel selects is the Level of monster that will be destroyed. If I choose, I can redo it once! And that number is..." the pointer stops "FIVE!" From the Barrel shot out a small rocket that crashed into the Patrician and destroyed it. "Now I summon my card at risk, Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer!" Kycoo appeared on the grassy field, beads in hand, "Kycoo, exercise her Shadow Ghoul and one Bubonic Vermin along with 1800 Life Points!" A beam of energy shot from Kycoo's beads at Kaomi. She watched Shadow Ghoul and Bubonic Vermin vanish from her grave.

"Where are they?" Kaomi demanded.

"Beyond the beyond, and removed from this game." Arkith laughed evilly.

"Damn you, Arkith!" she drew and looked at her card, _Seiyaryu! I know you'll save me! Let's see, I have my Soul Exchange face down, and a tribute doll in my hand. Here we go, I'll offer Kycoo! Wait! If I do, that barrel can destroy Seiyaryu!_ "I activate Soul Exchange offering Roulette Barrel and this magic card, Tribute Doll, to summon the monster on the line for me, Seiyaryu! I also throw these three cards face down! Because of Tribute Doll Seiyaryu cannot attack, and because of Soul Exchange I skip my Battle Phase. Your turn."

Arkith drew, "I'll give Kycoo a real boost by activating his mistress, Malevolent Nuzzler!" A teal woman appeared behind Kycoo, "She gives him 700 more attack, making his attack 2500. Same as Seiyaryu!"

Kaomi growled. She drew a card. "Fine, but two can play the equip game. I set a fourth card face down and equip Seiyaryu with a Dragon Treasure, raising it's attack to 2800!" A small gem appeared on Seoyaryu's head, "Seiyaryu, ATTACK!"

"I activate Mask of Weakness! Seiyaryu is at 2100!" Arkith grinned. A mask attached itself to the dragon.

"Activate Rush Recklessly raising attack to 2800." Seiyaryu's speed increased.

"Activate Curse of Aging and discard Vengeful Bog Spirit to lower Attack to 2300" Arkith scowled. He enjoyed watching Seiyaryu age into an old, weak, dragon.

"Activate two Reinforcements, raising attack by 500 each. Seiyaryu is at 3300. Dragon's Flame!" Two groups of solders appeared and dashed at Kycoo before Seiyaryu attacked. A fireball slammed into Kycoo, and incinerated it. Arkith's Life Point counter flashed 2850.

"Good job. Now I stare down a 2800 attack power monster." Arkith clapped. Seiyaryu shimmered and returned to normal, "I wonder if I can beat it." Arkith laughed manically.

"You can't." Raven shot Arkith a cold look, "Her Seiyaryu is always there for her."

"I doubt it. I play Graceful Charity!" He drew three cards and quickly threw out two. "I now activate Monster Reborn on one of the cards I just tossed, Gaia the Fierce Knight! I'll have my Gaia trade in his old clunky spear for this. A Thunder Blade!" Gaia held in his hand a sword crackling with electrical energy. "Gaia has 3100 attack, more than enough for my last chance!"

_My face-down card will end this now. Too bad._. Kaomi smiled.

"ATTACK!" Arkith ordered.

"Reveal Mirror Wall!" Gaia crashed into a mirror. "Take it out, Seiyaryu!"

Arkith's Life Point counter flashed 1600 to represent the loss.

"Payback for the Nationals, Arkith! Seiyaryu, obliterate!"

Arkith's Life Point counter reached zero. The Discs deactivated, and Kaomi put her disc away. A small crowd had gathered, and some applauded. Arkith walked slowly over to Kaomi and handed her a locator card.

"I'm sorry you had to loose Kycoo, Arkith." Kaomi gratefully accepted the locator as Arkith removed Kycoo from his graveyard.

"I'm not. Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer held me back. Besides, it's not **that** rare." he turned and started to walk away.

"Hey!" Kaomi stopped him, "We're even. One and one. See you next tournament." Kaomi walked past Raven, "Let's go, Raven."

Arkith watched them walk around a corner. He closed his eyes. A spectator approached him.

"Why didn't you play that one dragon in your hand?" the spectator asked.

"Because I'm just a delivery boy. Speaking of..." Arkith left the crowd and walked closer to the tree he jumped out of. He walked up to a man in strange clothes that had a lot of piercings. "Here." he handed the man the card, "Where's my end of the deal? Your boss made me a promise!"

The man did not speak, just handed Arkith a small package.

Arkith laughed, "Next tournament indeed, Kaomi."

- O -

Kaomi and Raven sat in a restaurant, eating away at their lunches.

"Tell me more about the Nationals." Raven begged.

"Alright. It was a few months ago. We were at the American Nationals, I was visiting my cousin and she convinced me to go. I had just taken some looser out and walked out of the arena to see who I'd be facing in the Top Sixteen. I met Arkith and we went to duel. The duel built nicely, sadly eventless. Then I summoned Seiyaryu. I attacked Kycoo but wasn't prepared. He used the same two weakness traps he used in our last duel and defeated my Seiyaryu. It was easy for him to take me out after that because I was shaken. I helped by paying 2000 Life Points to Mirror Wall. Point is, I was in shock that that looser had managed to fry Seiyaryu so easily." Kaomi looked at the Kycoo laying on the table, "I got mad and took him out. I'll expect I will have an uphill struggle next time we meet. I took his favorite card. He won't let me off easily." she sighed and slid Kycoo into her deck. "I'm afraid, Raven. I don't want to loose my Seiyaryu."

After lunch, the two set off once again.

- O -

A man in a black cloak entered the street. He set himself apart from the dueling crowds. His face was shrouded in his cloak. His cloak was connected with a ruby piece on his chest. Beneath his black cloak was a black shirt and black pants. Some mistook him for a Rare Hunter, but he was not. He was merely a mysterious duelist. He scoped the crowd, looking for a duelist. His sights caught one. Kaomi Itai. He drifted slowly cross the crowded street of Battle City.

Kaomi and Raven stood. After a relaxing meal, Raven felt eager for a Battle City match.

"Kaomi, your duel looked so cool, but not that hard. I want a challenge. I want my deck to be tested." Raven slid his deck into his Disk.

"HEY! He didn't improve. I did. It wasn't easy, but it was a dull duel." Kaomi looked back with disappointment.

The cloaked stranger drifted up. "Duelist Itai." his voice was deep and forceful. His face was shrouded in shadow. "I saw you on the boat to Duelist Kingdom. You were trading with a man named Lios. Lios was my friend, and told me of a good deck. I searched for you on the island, but I only met you on the mainland. Now is my chance to see your amazing deck."

"No." Raven stopped him, "I am a duelist, too. First you beat me, then you beat Kaomi!"

"Raven!" Kaomi felt pure shock.

"How will I be respected as a Duelist if I never duel?" Raven asked her.

"Good. I'll easily get my way to the Finals if this keeps up." the man laughed. He slid his deck into his Disk and activated it, "I am Cidofolos Orlandu, your final duel in Battle City!"

"I am Raven Vaniver, and I'm gonna get your rarest card." Raven activated his Disk.

"Raven!" Kaomi called to him. _I can't stop him,_ she thought, _best to support him,_ "Good luck, Raven."

"DUEL!" The Life Point counters blinked 4000.

"I'll go first." Orlandu drew, "I play the Troop Dragon in defense mode!" A dragon wearing armor appeared.

Raven drew; "I summon Gradius!" a fighter jet flew out of Raven's Duel Disk. "Attack!" Gradius flew at the Dragon and shot it. The Dragon shattered and another appeared, "Huh?"

""My Dragons replace one another. What kind of troopers would they be if they didn't?" Orlandu drew, "Tribute Troop Dragon" the dragon dissolved and another faded into existence, "to summon Luster Dragon!" A great green dragon appeared. It's attack, at 2400, was double that of Gradius, "Luster Dragon, Lesser Flame!" The dragon spat small fireballs at Gradius. Raven's Life Point counter reported 2800.

"Raven!" Kaomi called from the sidelines.

Raven smiled, "I set one card in defense mode and two cards face-down. Go, Orlandu."

"Gladly. I summon the Dragon Dwelling in the Cave in defense mode and activate this. Dragon's Gunfire!" A dragon in more of a curled posture appeared Luster Dragon shot a large fireball at Raven, dealing 800 damage, "Go."

"I summon this, Dancing Fairy, in Defense Mode!" three fairies danced in a circle next to the horizontal card.

"Inviting me to attack. How unwise." Orlandu drew, "Luster Dragon, ATTACK!"

"Reveal Trap Card, Negate Attack!" Raven flipped his card. Luster Dragon's fire fizzled out.

Raven drew, and his Life Point counter flashed 3000, "My Fairy gives me 1000 Life Points a turn. Now, I flip my monster, The Forgiving Maiden."

Kaomi gasped.

"I activate my magical Polymerization! My Maiden fuses with Marie the Fallen One in my hand to summon the Saint Joan!" Raven smiled, "My Saint cannot attack, so it's your move."

"You think your pathetic Saint Bernard-"

"Joan!" Raven interrupted.

"-can stop me? It'll barely slow me down!" Orlandu said sternly, "To defend my Dragons, I'll have my Luster defend and set three cards." Three cards appeared behind his row of dragons.

Raven drew, and his Life Point counter blinked 4200 "My Fallen One gives me 200 a turn as long as she's in my grave! Now, Saint Joan, ATTACK! DIVINE DEVISTATION!" Saint Joan, which floated gracefully despite the absence of wings, readied her sword. She shot a beam of light from its tip at the Luster Dragon.

"Activate face-down card, Mirror Force!" Orlandu flipped his trap. The beam swung round and Saint Joan was hit. She shattered.

"Reveal my other face-down card, Rope of Life! This Rope brings my Saint back from the Other Realm again, but this time with an overwhelming 3600 attack!" Raven knew there was one card in his deck that could end this fast.

"I activate my trap, Dragon's Rage! My Dragons can now deal damage to your defensive monsters." Orlandu switched the Luster Dragon to Attack. "Go, Luster Dragon!" Fireballs shot at each of the three Dancing Faries, and Raven's Life Point counter reflected 2800 once more.

"You may have fired a portion of my life points, and a goof way to regain them," Raven drew and his counter read 3000, "But my Fallen One is still healing me. And now, my Saint can attack, and she will. Devastate the Luster Dragon!" Luster Dragon shattered, and Orlandu's Life Point counter dropped to 2800.

"It ends now." Orlandu drew, "While I prepare my secret weapon, I will sacrifice my two remaining Dragons to summon my rarest, my Tri Horned Dragon!" A giant dragon with three gigantic horns atop its head busted into the field. Your move."

Raven closed his eyes. He could easily vanquish this recent threat. That dragon was no match for his Saint. Oulandu had to have something face down, but what? And what was this 'secret weapon'? Raven drew, and set a monster in defense mode.

"That all?" Orlandu, seeming disappointed, drew, "Well, well, well.... I'll activate this card, Fusion Sage! It allows me to get one Polymerization from my deck," An old man appeared on the field and pulled a Polymerization card out of the pocket of his robe, then vanished, "and add it to my hand. Now, Mr. Vaniver, we will begin the end. I'll end my turn, but the next one you'll face my Secret Weapon!""If you make it to next turn, Orlandu!" Raven drew, "Reveal my monster, the Tornado Bird! It returns those remaining two face-down cards to your hand." A large bird flew out of the face-down card on Raven's side of the field and sent a small twister at Orlandu's face-down cards. The two face down cards on his field vanished. "Saint Joan, ATTACK!" A beam of light struck the Tri-Horned Dragon. Orlandu's counter represented a value of 2150.

"I activate Swords of Revealing Light!" Orlandu threw the card down in anger, "And I summon Z-Metal Tank! Oh, to keep you occupied, here's a Polymerization, combining my Steel Ogre Grotto and my Lesser Dragon to summon my Metal Dragon! I'll also activate two 7 Completed, raising my attack to 3250! Your move!" A metallic tank and a giant metal dragon loomed on Orlandu's side of the field, and swords of light shimmered over Raven's.

Raven only drew, "Go."

"I summon X-Head Cannon!" A giant cannon appeared next to the tank. "Metal Dragon, attack the Tornado Bird!" The Metallic Dragon flew at the bird, now with swords around it, and the dragon shattered it. "Because my Metal Dragon is more metal than it is Dragon, I sadly don't deal damage."

Raven set one Trap face-down, "Go."

""I summon Y-Dragon Head!" A giant metal dragon head appeared next to the Cannon. "Go."

"Raven set a monster in defense mode "Swords are extinguished." The Swords fizzled out of existence.

"Now I sacrifice my X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, and Z-Metal Tank to summon the mightiest metallic dragon, the XYZ Dragon Cannon!" The three combined to from the large XYZ. "I set one more card, a Trap, mind you, face-down."

Raven almost growled, "Saint Joan, destroy it!"

"Reveal Trap Card, SHIFT!" The blast of light crashed into the Metal Dragon, obliterating it. Orlandu's Counter blinked 1700.

"Hahahahaha!" Orlandu laughed. "Your Fallen One has brought you up to 4000. Congratulations. A Direct Assault from my Dragon Cannon will make you a little less comfortable. First, I activate Monster Reborn! Revive my Tri-Horned Dragon!" The Tri-Horned Dragon appeared, "XYZ Special Ability Activate! I discard the last card in my hand, the Wingbeat of Giant Dragon, to fire a bomb at your Saint. Now, XYZ, Destruction Cannon!" A large bomb shot out of the Cannon, and Raven smiled, "Reveal, Shift." The bomb crashed into the face-down card, destroying it.

Raven drew, "Now, I activate Autonomous Action Unit, reviving your Metal Dragon, and I use Monster Reborn on my Gradius!" Both monsters appeared on Raven's field, and his Life Point counter read 2700. "Offer both to summon MY rarest card, The Tyrant Dragon!" A massive dragon appeared on his field. "Before I get too far ahead of myself, I activate Offerings to the Doomed to destroy your Tri-Horned Dragon. Now, Saint Joan, Attack the XYZ Dragon Cannon!" The XYZ vanished in a blast of light, "Tyrant Dragon, OBLITERATE!" A gigantic fireball slammed into Orlandu, and his Life Points read as zero. He fell, and the Tri-Horned Dragon and one Locator Card fell separate.

Orlandu forced himself up, and removed his hood, revealing a red-hired green-eyed man. "OW! Kaiba's Duel Disk is a little too real." He rubbed his arm, "I still have one locator card, you know, and I'd appreciate it if I could join you...? I'd love to be able to duel alongside a holder of the rare and elusive Tyrant Dragon!"

"Sure!" Kaomi and Raven said at once.

"I no longer wish to duel you, Miss Kaomi, if my last duel was any indication, I'm not ready for you. But soon."

"I'd like that. Soon, Orlandu." Kaomi smiled.

The three drifted onward.

- O -

Orlandu approached a building; "I hear there is a duelist in here who poses a great challenge. I hear he is called Alexander. He eliminated two people who made the mistake of entering. He didn't take anything from them; he just is trying to prove himself. Rumor has it, he wants to only eliminate Yugi Motou."

"The boy who beat Kaiba? And Pegasus?" Kaomi was awe-struck.

"Yugi Motou. Holder of the mighty Dark Magician and the great Exodia. I know of him." Raven chuckled, "I hear he lost Exodia by trusting Weevil Underwood."

"Yugi is a good duelist, but he nearly lost his title to a sub-par duelist, that Devlin boy. I wonder if he is really all that good." Kaomi pictured her Seiyaryu defeating Yugi for a moment, "But these questions are best answered at the finals, if he can make it that far."

"Is anyone going to challenge this 'Alexander'?" Raven asked.

Orlandu put his hood up, "I still have some good cards. I'll take him on!"

Raven approached the entrance of the building and addressed a doorman, "Three to see Mr. Alexander." Raven said, in an official tone.

"Who will duel?" asked the doorman.

"I," Orlandu stepped forward, "Cidofolos Orlandu.

"Rarest card?" asked the doorman.

"XYZ Dragon Cannon." reported Orlandu.

The doorman clapped three times and another doorman walked up. "If you will follow me, sir, and have your friends follow Mr. Cellophane?"

The first doorman led Orlandu up a flight of red-carpeted stairs, while the other led Kaomi and Raven into another room. Up the flight of stairs was a set of large oak doors, which the doorman opened, revealing an elegant, but empty, room with a single red velvet chair. The man in the chair had deep blue eyes and a head of tossed blonde hair. He wore a business suit, gray with a blue undershirt. His Duel Disc was customized with gold plating and adorned with gemstones. He smiled, "Mr. Orlandu." he laughed, "Do you see this room? This, my friend, is the way of the modern warrior. This is our battleground. A room retrofitted with Kaiba Corp's newest holographic emitters. A deck of rare cards worth more than your life. I understand you possess the XYZ Dragon Cannon. It is of no use to me. Therefore, if you loose, I'll just let your shame be your penalty."

"If I win?" Orlandu scowled.

"**If** you win, you can have my Locator card and my greatest possession. My Black Luster Solder. And, since I'm nice, the Black Luster Ritual. That's only if you can beat me." Alexander laughed again.

"Why can't my friends be here?" Orlandu asked, in a powerful tone that finally made the doorman leave.

"Because, my dear Orlandu, I think the best duel is one that is free of annoyances such as them. Don't fret, I'm sure they're well off."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Orlandu asked, impatient, and quite untrusting.

Alexander stood, "My, we are eager to be shamed, aren't we?"

"DUEL!" they both activated their discs.

- O -

The man know as Cellophane led Kaomi and Raven on a very long path, eventually winding up in a hall resembling Duelist Kingdom's dungeons that Raven saw on a virtual tour. They were led into a large room lit by torches. The room was large and everything was made of gray stone. Cellophane left, closing the metal door.

"That's great. Just great. What if Orlandu need us?" Raven sighed.

"I doubt he will. Besides, by now he's probably dueling." Kaomi examined the door, and twisted the handle, "It's locked."

"Blast!" Raven kicked a small rock on the floor. Where the rock landed, a cloud of smoke erupted. From it appeared two caped duelists in black suits and top hats.

"Huh/" Kaomi stared, puzzled.

"Magicians." Rave shot them a piercing stare. The male had messy black hair, but the female's red hair was straight and well kept.

"Quite so." said the male, "I'm Quinn."

"And I am Willow." said the female.

"Lord Alexander wanted us to keep you busy." Quinn smiled evilly.

"Allow us to show you a trick!" Willow giggled.

Both removed their hats and reached in to pull out Duel Discs.

"Great. We get the psychotic magician duelists while Orlandu gets challenged! I take it this will be a standard Double Duel?" Raven sighed.

"Yes, but rest assured, we will be a good duel!" Quinn slid his deck into his disc.

"The game will progress as follows: Quinn, Raven, myself, Kaomi, then back to Quinn." Willow slid her deck in as well.

All four discs activated, "DUEL!"

"I play the monster Witch of the Black Forest in defense mode and one card face-down." The Witch and face-down card appeared in from to Quinn

Raven drew, "I summon The Forgiving Maiden in defense mode!" The Maiden fizzled into existence.

"My turn!" Willow drew, "I set this monster in defense mode. Go." A card appeared in front of her.

"I summon my Dark Blade!" A black-clad warrior with giant words appeared before Kaomi, "Attack the face-down monster!" Dark blade slashed through the defensive Ancient Elf.

Quinn drew and set a Spell card face down, "My turn is over."

Raven smiled, "Summon my Pitch Dark Dragon, equipping it to the Dark Blade!" A darkish dragon flew to the Dark Blade, who mounted it. "Dark Blade now has 2200 ATK and can do damage to your defensive cards. I'll also throw down a little face-down card."

"I set this in defense mode." Willow scowled, "and this face-down."

"I summon my Nimble Momonga in defense mode, "Kaomi watched her flying squirrel-like monster coast onto the field on it's glider-esque wings, "And have Dark Blade attack the Witch of the Black Forest dealing 1000 Direct Damage!"

Quinn drew as his Life Point counter lowered, "With my witch I send my Breaker the Magical Warrior to my hand, and summon it!" Breaker appeared, "Now, I'll give it a Book of Secret Arts, raising its attack to 2100. Go."

Raven drew. "Now you've gone and done it, Magicians. I set this in defense mode and end my-" he dropped Polymerization on the field briefly, and picked it back up, "Oops."

- O -

"I will go first!" Orlandu drew, "I summon my Dragon Dwelling in the Cave in defense mode! And let me add this, face-down!" The defensive Dragon appeared with a card behind it.

"I summon my Swordsman of Landstar! I replace his crappy sward with this, a Lightning Blade giving him 1600 attack, and I'll set this, face-down!" A small swordsman holding a blade crackling with electricity fizzled into existence, and a card followed it.

"I'll summon my Baby Dragon in defense mode!" Orlandu's small dragon crossed its arms in front of it as it appeared.

"Not much of a defender!" Alexander drew, "Summon my Ancient Lizard Warrior!" a giant lizard with silver claws appeared, "I won't attack."

"Offer Baby Dragon to summon my Curse of Dragon! Attack!" A large tanish-yellow dragon flew at Alexander.

"Reveal Negate Attack!" Curse of Dragon stopped, "Now I sacrifice my two monsters to summon my mighty Gaia the Fierce Knight!" A horseback knight appeared, "Gaia, attack the Dragon Dwelling in the Cave!" Gaia slashed through it.

Orlandu drew, and set a defensive monster, "Go."

Alexander drew, "Go."

Orlandu just set another defensive monster. "Your move."

"And it's one you'll enjoy!" Alexander smiled, "First, Mister Orlandu, remove your hood. Let me see the eyes of my opponent."

"No." Orlandu responded firmly.

"Why? So you can hide from a duelist so far superior? I guess that makes sense." Alexander laughed manically.

"No." Orlandu again, responded firmly, "Because I want you to fall to a faceless duelist. You are not deserving of the knowledge of who I truly am, Alexander. You are to be beaten by the shadow that is the Dragon handler Orlandu!"

Alexander scoffed, "Really?" he drew, "I activate Change of Heart!" Curse of Dragon drifted over to Alexander's side, "Are you ready for this, Dragon Handler? Activate Polymerization! Fuse Curse of Dragon and Gaia the Fierce Knight to summon Gaia, the Dragon Champion!" Alexander began to laugh a truly maniacal laugh.

- O -

Kaomi looked at her partner. _Was that a signal? Should I be ready for a fusion? But what could he want me to play? Maybe..._ she thought looking through her hand, and spotted a card. _I remember this. It was before Duelist Kingdom. I said my goodbye at the dock, and had started to approach the boat. He stopped me. "Here", he said," just in case you and I ever should duel together, or you're in a crunch time..." Is this it? I'll signal him._ She nodded, "Raven."

"Yes?" he responded, eyes fixed on Willow.

"Thanks for giving me that card, before duelist kingdom. Just in case we're both totally humiliated here, I want you to know, I wouldn't be here without it." Kaomi smiled, "I wanted to ell you that while I had my pride in tact."

"I understand, Kaomi." Raven's eyes never left Willow, who had just drawn, "You're welcome."

"How sentimental." Willow laughed, "I set this in defense mode and end my turn." Another card appeared before her.

"Hmm." Kaomi looked at her deck, _we were lucky Breaker didn't attack... I HAVE to draw MY polymerization, or it's over for us!_ She drew, and grinned, "Activate POLYMERIZATION! Fusing my Thunder Dragon-" A large dragon with crackling lightning appeared before her.

"And MY Thunder Dragon-" An identical monster appeared before him.

"To summon the Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon!" The two Thunder Dragons combined, adding a second head above the first and a vastly greater size. "My fusion my not be able to attack, but my Dark Blade can! Attack Breaker the Magical Warrior!" Dark Blade charged at Breaker.

"Reveal Taylor of the Fickle, distorting your Union, and returning Dark Blade's attack!" Willow grinned.

"Whoa, nice teamwork!" Kaomi found herself a little suppressed as Dark Blade shattered. Her life point counter showed 3700.

"It's my turn!" Quinn drew, "Now, Breaker, attack the Forgiving Maiden!"

"Reveal Negate Attack!" Raven called. Breaker stopped dead in it's tracks, "My turn!" Raven drew, "I activate MY Polymerization, combining my Forgiving Maiden and my Marie the Fallen One to summon St. Joan! And, now I activate the card Foolish Burial! This allows me to discard a card from my hand and send it to one of your graveyards, Willow."

"I can't see why...?' Willow stared at him.

He smiled as Willow's graveyard shimmered, "Allowing me to activate Autonomous Action Unit, returning my Tri-Horned Dragon to the field." Tri Horned Dragon fizzled into existence, and Raven's Life Points blinked 2500. "Tri-Horned Dragon, ATTACK!" A fireball crashed into Breaker, and engulfed it in flame. Quinn's Life Points read 2250.

"However can we win!" Willow laughed.

"I don't know!" Quinn laughed a reply.

"Sacrifice my monsters!" called Willow, "And summon my Dark Magician!" The Dark Magician appeared on the field. "I play this magic card as well, "she flipped open the Field slot, "Activate Mystic Plasma Zone!" A beam of black energy shot through the roof and hit the floor the shockwaves were absorbed by the Dark Magician. "My Dark one's attack in one a nice 3000, and I think it'll attack the Tri-Horned Dragon! DARK MAGIC ATTACK!" Tri Horned Dragon shattered and Raven's counter read 2450.

"If we ever need a little bit of luck, now is it." Raven muttered.

"We only need a little, Raven, we can still win." Kaomi drew.

- O -

Gaia mounted the Dragon nobly, as Orlandu, beneath his hood, frowned. _Now what?_

Orlandu drew a card. _It's not a Dragon, but it may help me soon._ He thought, _But for now...? Ah! I'll force his hand!_ "First I activate Swords of Revealing Light! Now I place this monster in defense mode" A defensive monster appeared on the field.

"Defend yourself for three whole turns all you want. I'll beef up my front line! Summon Gerfried the Iron Knight!" A large metallic knight appeared before Alexander.

Orlandu drew, _Blast! I didn't get it!_ "I summon my Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress!" A blue dragon appeared before Orlandu.

"Time for a REAL monster!" Alexander drew, "I send these tow cards from my hand to the graveyard, my two Warrior Dai Grapphers to the grave with this spell, The Black Luster Ritual!" A tablet appeared before Alexander; from it shot a beam of energy that formed the Black Luster Solder. "Your swords are still in effect, boy, so go."

"Sorry, Alex." Orlandu drew, "Reveal my Summoner of Illusions, allowing me to create one illusionary monster. Normally this illusion would be dispelled by the end of the turn, but, well, watch." The Summoner of Illusions absorbed one defensive card from Oulandu's field, and transformed it. From this ray of energy, formed a gigantic dragon with three heads. "Summon Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Now, this illusion cannot attack, but I will make this dream a reality." he let out a small laugh, "Activate Change of Heart on your Luster Solder, and activate my own Polymerization, to fuse the Blue Eyes and the Black Luster Solder to summon this, the mightiest of monsters!" Black Luster Solder flew at Blue Eyes, and the resulting light was blinding, "DRAGON RIDER!" The giant dragon had the Black Luster Solder sitting upon it, "Now, I activate Curse of Aging, discarding this and lowering your monster's attacks by 500. Dragon Rider, ATTACK!" A powerful blast fried Gearfried, and Alexander's counter blinked 500.

"Dear god..." Alexander stared at the dragon, which bent to avoid the ceiling. "Gaia, defend!"

"Too little, too late, Alex." Orlandu smiled, "Reveal Dragon's Rage, Dragon Rider, OBLITERATE!" The dragon prepared its assault.

- O -

Outside the room a doorman stood, "I wonder when Lord Alexander will finish this fool."

There was a terrible, ghastly, silence.

There was a terrible, ghastly, noise.

There was a terrible, ghastly, silence.

- O -

When the ringing stopped in Alexander's ears, and the light engulfing the room faded, he found himself on his back, looking at the ceiling, his deck scattered throughout the room. His life point counter read zero. "How...?"

"That is easy." Orlandu removed his hood, "It takes much time for the student to surpass the teacher, but I've done it, Alex."

"Cid?" Alex could barely see straight, "Only you could win with an illusion."

"Alex, it has been a long time." Orlandu picked up the Black Luster Solder, "I can't take this. Maybe someday you can use it to beat the Motou boy." Orlandu handed it to Alex, and helped him up.

Alex reached into his pocket, "Take my locator card. Now, your friends are downstairs in the Grey Room. Mister Cellophane can take you there." Alex pressed a buzzer on his chair, "Cellophane, take Mister Orlandu to the Grey Room. Henceforth, cancel all challenges. Oh, how are Wil and Quinn doing?"

From a speaker in the hand rest of the chair, came Cellophane's voice, "Fairly well, sir. Quinn is lowest, but Willow has a powerful monster. The Opponents are suffering some Life Point damage, but the duel is progressing slowly."

"Good. Give me a video feed in five, after Orlandu arrives." Alexander ordered. In seconds Cellophane opened the door, ""Cid, go to your friends, I have a King of Games to take down soon enough." Alexander laughed, "See you around, Cid."

- O -

Kaomi drew. If she were to get something for one of their monsters, a defeat of the Dark Magician was a guarantee. She drew, and was almost afraid of looking at the card. "I equip Twin Headed Thunder Dragon with the mighty Dragon's Treasure!" A jewel appeared on her dragon's tail, "Powering my dragon to 3100 attack! Twin Headed Thunder Dragon, Dragon's Double Spark!" Two orbs of lightning crashed into the Dark Magician, shattering it. The first loss to Willow's Life Points was calculated. 3900 life points remained.

"I will go." Quinn drew, visually angry. "First, I receive a gift from Dian Keto the Cure Master, a gift of one thousand Life Points!" Dian Keto appeared before Quinn, and chanted a brief spell, and as Dian dissolved, Quinn's life points grew to 3250.

"No matter." Raven drew.

The door behind them busted open. Orlandu stood in the doorway. "Beat em down, guys! I gave Alex what-for, give his minions the same!"

Raven smiled, "We will. I activate Monster Reborn on the Dark Magician and I'll have Dark Magician attack Quinn, then have St. Joan obliterate him!" The two assaults slammed into Quinn, making him fall backward.

"I defend, and end my turn." Willow called.

"I activate these cards, Share the Pain, destroying the Dark Magician, and your monster, and Monster Reborn on the Dark Magician" The monster Willow set vanished, and the dark Magician appeared on Kaomi's field, "My monsters will obliterate you!"

- O -

When the dust settled, the Magicians were gone, leaving behind one locator card and a Dark Magician a piece.

"Well, where to now?" Raven asked.

"Out of here." Orlandu replied, "I want to relax."


	4. Fall from Grace

Once the three were back on the streets, a sight caught Orlandu's eye. "Hey! There is some kind of water show over there!" Orlandu, Raven, and Kaomi ran into a park-like setting.

- O -

The waters washed off the street The opponent, Zaff Destal, an acquaintance of Orlandu's, walked away with his head hung low. The man of the sea, Mako Tsunami, reduced Zaff to nothing. Orlandu smiled.

"Destal deserved it." he smirked.

"Some 'water show', Cid!" Kaomi looked, a little disappointed.

"You can't walk fifteen feet without running into a duel!" Raven felt agitated.

Tsunami laughed, "I could use one more before I take a break!"

Orlandu stepped up. "I'll take you on!" he activated his disc, "I am Dragon Handler Cid Orlandu! Prepare yourself!"

"My friend, you have yourself a challenge!" Mako activated his disc as well.

"DUEL!" they declared.

I will begin by summoning The Lightning Conger in defense mode and I throw two cards face-down." A crackling snake-like thing appeared.

"No problem! I summon Spear Dragon!" Orlandu threw a card onto his disc.

"Activate Torrential Tribute!" Mako called. A massive blast of water cleared the monsters.

"I set this face down and end my turn." Orlandu frowned.

Mako smiled. "I activate A Legendary Ocean!" The path through the park became amerced in water once again, "And I summon my Seven Colored Fish!" His smile grew, "Now I activate Cold Wave, rendering all Spells and Traps useless! Now, Fish, attack!" The Seven Colored Fish swam up to Orlandu, and bit his Duel Disc, which reflected 2200.

Orlandu drew and looked at his hand. The only way he could summon a monster would be using Change of Heart and Monster Reborn, and offering Spear Dragon and the Fish. Cold Wave prevented this. He was unlucky.

"You can do it, Orlandu!" Called Raven "Show that punk the might of Dragons!" Though, Raven did note, coming from the last person Orlandu lost to, this was an odd statement.

"Doing nothing?" Mako drew. "Fish, attack!"

Orlandu drew as his counter flashed 100.

"Maybe." Raven whispered.

"Activate Monster Reborn on the Spear Dragon! And Change of Heart on your monster and sacrifice both to summon my great Yamata Dragon! And here's a little Spiritual Energy Settle Machine to keep it alive!" The translucent Yamata Dragon fizzled into existence. "ATTACK!"

Mako laughed as his Life Points flashed 1400. "The simplest monster in my deck is about to save me. I summon Oogichi! Attack directly!"

Orlandu gasped as his life points hit zero. He had lost it all. His Dragon Cannon, his Locator Cards, and his honor.

"Oh, god!" Kaomi turned away.

Orlandu fell to his knees, as the holograms faded.

Cidofolos Orlandu, the Dragon Handler, was removed from the tournament.

Orlandu walked sadly toward Kaomi and Raven. His deck was removed from his Duel Disc, and his face bore a look of disappointment.

"It's OK, Orlandu." Raven nodded.

"Call me Cid." Orland sighed.

"I will not. You are Orlandu, the Dragon Handler, and any other name is an insult." Raven turned, "Come on, Kaomi, we still need Locator Cards."

"May I come with you?" Orlandu asked, kindly.

"On one condition." Raven turned, "No feeling sorry for yourself, got it?"

"Yes." Orlandu looked around, "Perhaps we should go farther into the park. The scenery is nice."

"Why not?" Raven and Kaomi shrugged and walked further into the park.

- O -

Across the vast park, a blue robed man looked at the river. A red robed man ran up behind him. "Alen-Tax!" He stopped next to the blue robed man. "Alen-Tax! The Dragon Handler is defeated!"

"By who?" the blue robed Alen-Tax asked.

"The Tsunami guy!" replied the red robed man.

"Blast! I wanted a Star to take him out!" Alen-Tax fumed.

"What's greater, he has friends, to of them!" the red robed man responded.

"We have to hurry, then! We don't want Rare Hunters moving in on Star prey!" Alen-Tax turned, "Go, Barbas! Win one for the Stars!

- O -Kaomi held her hands behind her head as she took in the sunlight. "It's a truly nice day for a tournament," she said without thinking.

"It is." Orlandu responded.

A burst of light came from a nearby tree, distracting them momentarily. When the light was gone, a group of men in dark cloaks approached them.

"Rare Hunters!" Orlandu stepped forward, "They are thugs who, win or loose, will take your rarest cards and locator card. Be careful."

"They are no mach for us, Orlandu!" Kaomi activated her disc.

The five Rare Hunters walked slowly closer. All but the center man had their head covered. The center man was tall, and bald. He had an odd tattoo, and his gaze was cold. He spoke, and the power of his voice was great, "Raven Vaniver. Your Tri-Horned Dragon is targeted by the Rare Hunters."

Raven locked eyes with the bald man, unable to move.

"DUEL!" Ordered the bald man, Odion, activating his discs.

Raven activated his disc as well.

Odion threw three Traps face down, "I end my turn!"

Raven drew. _Come on, Raven! Focus! He's open for a direct attack!_ "I summon the Dancing Fairy!" His little faries blinked into existence, "ATTACK!"

"I activate Ring of Destruction!" A ring of bombs appeared around each fairy, all exploding at once, "And I activate the Ojama Trio!" As both their Life Point counters flashed 2300, three little alien things appeared on Raven's field. "My turn." Odion drew, "I play Swords of Revealing Light and this card, Just Deserts!"

Raven drew as his life points flashed a dismal 800.

"Raven!" Kaomi called, "Not another loss!"

Raven placed one card face down and ended his turn.

"I activate Dark Hole!" called Odion, "And on the way out, the Ojama's will take the rest of your Life Points!" Raven's counter flashed zero. "Hand us your Tri-Horned Dragon and your Locator cards!" ordered Odion.

Raven complied, and once Odion had what he wanted, he drifted off in search of more prey.

"We're counting on you now, Kaomi." Raven said, softly, as he put his deck in his pocket.

Raven Vaniver was removed from the tournament.

Kaomi felt the weight of the world on her shoulders, but screamed in anger after Odion, "Wait and see, Rare Hunter, Vengeance is a powerful weapon." she called.

A mixture of overconfidence and luck cursed Orlandu and Raven. Kaomi would not fall to this. She was going to win this. She smiled, "Trust me, Raven, you will be avenged, and I'll get you locator cards. I'll win them back. I need more though. I need to find someone to challenge before that Hunter gets too many cards. C'mon!" Kaomi ran off.

O –

It only took a few minutes to find what she was looking for. A woman in a dark shirt and dark pants. Her long brown hair flowed gracefully. Her Duel Disk was turned on.

Kaomi approached the woman, "I am Kaomi Itai, your next opponent."

The woman laughed, "Afraid I have yet to participate in a duel in this tournament, and only have one locator card to offer. I am Aura Leathe. Prepare yourself to fight my great deck." she activated her Duel Disk.

"DUEL!" they called.

"I start by summoning my Little-Windguard in defense mode!" Kaomi smiled, as the little armored warrior appeared, "and throw these two cards face-down!"

"I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." Aura smiled.

"Little-Windguard, Attack it!" The tiny guardian attacked the monster, a flying squeal, "Nimble Momonga." Kaomi scowled as tow more appeared on Aura's field, and her Life Points flashed a comfortable 5000, "Windguard, defend."

"Now, I sacrifice one Nimble Momonga to set this monster in defense mode. Your turn."

"I'll equip me Windguard with my Butterfly Dagger." Windguard's sword was replaced by green shining dagger, "ATTACK!"

A large wall appeared in place of Aura's new defensive monster. Kaomi's Life Points reflected the loss. 1700 points.

"Aww, blast." Kaomi muttered.

"It's not as bad as it'll get, Miss Itai." Aura smiled. "I place a third monster in defense mode and end my turn.

Kaomi drew. She knew better than to attack, but there had to be something else she could do... "One card face down. Go."

"Sacrifice my Woodland Sprite for this monster. Your move." Aura smiled.

"Just wait, Aura, I'll knock that smile off your face!" Kaomi threatened. She was far less confident as she let on, however. _Cid and Raven already lost,_ she thought, _maybe we're not as good as we think. _"I pass."

"Sacrifice my last Momonga for another monster. Go."

Kaomi smiled. She had a plan, "I'll place one card face-down and play Swords of Revealing Light!" The two face-down monsters on either side of the Labyrinth Wall revealed large shields with the Eye of Anubis inscribed upon them, "Just as I thought, three amazing defenders." She smiled.

"So you realize you can do nothing. I set one card face-down. Go." Aura felt comfort in her position.

"I can do anything, Aura." Kaomi drew, "Reveal my Curse of Fiend!" Windguard moved to an offensive posture, "Although your monsters have great defense, they have no attack value. My Curse of Fiend spell card forces them into Attack Position. Now, I'm sure you have something to stop me from roasting your Shields, so I play this, the Giant Trunade! That also lets me re-play my Swords, binding you for three more turns. Now I play my Kycoo, the Ghost Destroyer. Kycoo and Windguard, destroy the Millennium Shields! And Kycoo, remove them from her Grave. "

Aura's counter showed only 500 Life Points left, "Nice move, but it'll take more than that to beat me. First, I play the Dark Hole spell card!" a vortex in the sky pulled all the monsters into it, "And, to show you I'm not all defensive, meet my Mad Dog of Darkness! Mad Dog, give her rabies!"

"Reveal, Negate Attack!" The Mad Dog stopped moving. Kaomi looked at her hand, _Monster Reborn, Butterfly Dagger, and Dark magician. Nothing.... Wait! She said something about a Woodland Sprite! _"Activate Monster Reborn! Revive your Woodland Sprite in Attack Mode! Now, I play the Butterfly Dagger Elma!" The green dagger appeared in the sprite's possession.

"Reveal Alter for a Tribute, offering my Mad Dog to put my Life Points at 2400!"

"It doesn't matter. Offer my Butterfly Dagger Elma, inflicting 500 points of damage, lowering you to 1900. Elma returns to my hand when it's sent to the grave, so I can equip it again, and discard it again to inflict 500 more damage. You're done, care for me to do this three more times, or want to surrender?"

"My God... I surrender." She handed over her locator card, "Here's my Millennium Shield. Take it."

"Millennium Shield..." Kaomi ran off, "I must avenge my friends, I hope to see you again!"

-O-

"Itai." A voice came from behind Kaomi as she ran, causing her to stop. Barbas "Duel me."

"Fine." Kaomi launched her disk, "Let's go!"

"I'll go first. Here comes my Gearfried, the Iron Knight!" Barbas assumed a dueling stance.

"No problem," Kamoi sat three cards in her Spell/Trap zones and smiled, "I'll defend with this. Go."

"Attack!" Gearfried sliced the Nimble Momonga.

"My turn!" Kaomi said, watching two more Momongas come forth, "Sacrifice these two, to bring out my Dark Magician. Dark Magic Attack!"

Barbas drew, his counter flashing 3300, "I'll make short work of you. I set one card face-down and activate Snatch Steal!" The Dark Magician flickered and transported to Barbas's field "Now, feel your own Dark Magic Attack!"

Having no monsters to shield her, the force of the attack knocked Kaomi back, and her Life Points were down to 2500. "I draw. Too bad I gain 1000 Life Points now, eh?"

"No, you don't. Reveal trap card Bad Reaction!" Barbas grinned.

Kaomi watched her life points fall, "Defend and play two cards face down. Go."

"I wi8ll, thanks. I play the Rain of Mercy spell card, giving my 1000 Life Points, and costing you the same amount. Now, enter the field, my Sorcerer of the Doomed!" A decaying wizard with a mere 1400 attack points appeared. That would be enough to finish her. "Dark Magician, ATTACK!"

"Negate Attack!" Kaomi smiled, "It's not over 'till I say so, Barbas." She drew, "First, so I save my Life Points, I'll reveal my Dust Tornado, getting rid of your Reaction so I gain 1000 Life Points, instead of being eliminated. Now, I play Heavy Storm, destroying your other cards, returning my Dark Magician! And check out my next monster, the great Dark Blade! One card face-down, Dark Blade, Attack!" Dark Blade slayed the Sorcerer. "Dark Magic Attack!"

"Not bad at all. You are deserving of the honor I plan to give you, Kaomi Itai. But this match is still mine." He drew as his Life Points fell from 4300 to 1400, "Go Raigeki! Now, Monster Reborn! Come back Dark Magician! Finish her!" The Dark Magician attacked. The force was larger this time, kicking up a large cloud of dust. Kaomi stood in the center when it settled, smiling. She had 1500 Life Points.

"How!" Demanded Barbas.

"My Trap, Enchanted Javelin." Kaomi drew and grinned, "Set one card and play Card Destruction, then reveal my Monster Reborn! Come on out, Seiyaryu! And here's another two face-down cards. Now go, before I have to hurt you."

"Gladly. Summon my Drillago! Dark Magician, ATTACK!"

"Reveal my trap, Blast with Chain! Destory the Dark Magician!"

"Drillago, attack directly!"

"Reveal my other trap, Staunch Defender, forcing you to attack Seiyaryu!"

"Reveal my Mystical space Typhoon, destroying Seiyaryu's equipment, and forcing you to destroy my Drillago, saving my Life Points. Set this card face-down and you can go." His counter fell to 900.

"Seiyaryu, OBLITERATE!"

"No." Barbas laughed as Seiyaryu's blast flew at him, "Reveal Magic Cylinder!" The blast from Seiyaryu flew into a cylinder, and out another one, crashing into Kaomi, lowering her Life Points to zero.

Kaomi Itai was eliminated from the tournament.

-O-

Barbas let her keep her Seiyaryu, and took her Locator cards. With hers included, he had six. He snapped them in half, and threw them on the ground before her.

"Why did you do that?" she looked, puzzled.

"Because I am of the Stars of Destiny. We are holding our own tournament tommrow, for people eliminated from Battle City, and some of those Kaiba snubbed from even joining. We're giving everyone a chance."

"How noble." She replied, "So you want me to join it?"

"You, Mister Vaniver, and Mister Orlandu, yes. See you then." He turned to walk away and stopped, "Do you know much of your friend, Mister Vaniver? My master, Lord Sevanos, speaks very highly of him. Perhaps, even Mister Vaniver would be unsure as to why, though. He will soon see, rest assured."

"Get out of my sight." Kaomi scowled.

"Fine. See you tomorrow, Kaomi Itai. The train for the tournament site leaves Domino Station tomorrow morning at eight. The tournament begins in the afternoon at four. Since you have your high school courses in two days, we have sent a notice to your school, you and Mister Vaniver are excused through Thursday, giving you a bit of time to relax after the tournament." Barbas drifted away as Raven and Cid ran up.

"What happened?" Raven asked.

"I'll tell you later. We should all head back to my house." Kaomi offered. The others agreed.

-O-

"... and that's what happened." Kaomi explained.

"So we leave tomorrow morning. Right, I must go prepare." Cid walked out.

"Raven!" Kaomi stopped him from leaving, "Please stay in our guest room tonight. I wouldn't mind some practice before tomorrow."

"Okay." Raven nodded.


	5. Part II

Part II 

The Stars of Destiny

After Part I I faced a problem; the guys lost something bad, but people wanted a sequel. So I pondered what happened the few days right after Battle City? Since the Movie was set between DOOM saga and Battle City, I figured I had a window to use. So I used it. But for a solid sequel, I needed a definite villain. And who better than your average megalomaniac psycho? So, abut a month after finishing Part I, I started "The Stars of Destiny"!


	6. A Chance to Rise

"C'mon Raven!" Kaomi ran off the train, now wearing a dark blue t-shirt and matching blue jeans. Raven stepped off the train after her, wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and black pants. He also had on a dark gray vest.

"Right behind you!" he smiled. There had been no sign of Orlandu since their departure. Orlandu remained in his cloak, but his hood was now down.

"Lord Vaniver?" A man, in a white coat, blue shirt, and dark pants, approached. He, too, had a Duel Disk, but his was odd. It was a silver hemisphere on his arm, "I am Wesley Whyndam-Pryce. I am pleased to meet you. Lord Sevanos is eager to meet you as well. But he must first deliver his speech." Wesley led Raven and Kaomi to a crowded square. A man in a black trench coat stood in the center.

"_Lord_ Vaniver?" Raven said softly to Kaomi, shooting her a puzzled glance.

-O-

"Duelists. You are the esteemed, the vengeance seeking, and the non-finalists of Battle City. I feel your pain. So, I gave you all a second chance. Welcome to the Stars of Destiny tournament in Sunnydale! Such a quiet, quaint town. The tower in the distance is our headquarters, where we will monitor all duels. Once you amass seven points for victory, your Duel Disk will notify you. The first sixteen to accomplish this feat will be allowed into our headquarters for the finals tomorrow. The others will catch the midnight train to Domino. Don't bother wagering, for each point you get three credits redeemable for packs at either our Star Game Shop in our headquarters, or the one here in the square. See you all either tonight here at the station or tomorrow morning at the Headquarters!" Sevanos, the man in the square, seemed kind, although his potential for intimidation was high. His white hair was slightly greater than shoulder length, and he had a scar running along his right cheekbone. His moderate figure was nothing overpowering, but his appearance could easily turn to downright evil.

"What an inviting fellow." Kaomi seemed a little surprised, "Nice people can host tournaments?"

"You'd be surprised!" Wesley smiled, "You know, I've decided to quit the Stars of Destiny after this tournament. Perhaps I'll quit now." Wesley rambled on, but Raven found it hard to focus.

The world seemed to slow as a ringing in Raven's head grew until he fell to his knees. Then, the ringing was gone. The world froze, except one man. A man with an odd giant key pendant and a turban.

"Lord Raven Vaniver." He spoke in a deep Egyptian accent, "I ask you to trust and believe me in this. This may sound quite odd. I am Shadi, guardian of the ancient Millennium Items, and I sense an imbalance of power here. The imbalance stems from that man, that Sevanos. In ancient times, a war raged between a great Pharaoh, and an evil sorcerer. A man named Tiamat, your ancestor, fought on the side of the Pharaoh against a man named Seros. That would be the ancestor of Sevanos. Seros tried to use the battle between the Pharaoh and the Sorcerer to kill both and rule Egypt. Tiamat stopped him by offering himself to the Gods to create a great dragon that consumed Seros. But before his severed head finally died, he vowed his return to consume the world just as he was consumed. That day is upon us!"

"And where's this Pharaoh?" Asked Raven, trying to 'keep an open mind'.

"He is on a quest to secure the power of the Gods." explained Shadi, "You can defeat Sevanos, as you have before, but not alone. No matter what you do, you must defeat Sevanos. If we wait for the Pharaoh, we may be too late. I see now that your fate is to defeat Sevanos."

"Alright then."

"You do not believe me." Shadi closed his eyes.

"You admit, it's a bit outlandish."

"Take this. It is a pendant like the one Sevanos has. You can use it to unlock power equal to his."

"What is it?"

"A shard of the God's Tear crystal. The crystal was used by the sorcerers of Egypt to commune with Shadow Realm easier and focus their power."

"Ah. I got a God's Tear Shard, now, eh?" Raven eyed his new pendant. It was a shimmering crystal about the size of a triple A battery, shaped like an elongated hexagon.

"Believe what you will, for soon that pendant shall prove all. Remember, it is your fate to defeat Sevanos." Shadi vanished and the world returned to normal.

Kaomi spun, "You OK Raven, you haven't spoken much."

Raven looked a bit startled, but shook it off. "I'm fine."

Kaomi caught a glimpse of the pendant, "What's that?"

"Err..." Raven shrugged, "Just a pendant I found on the ground. Makes me look awesome!"

"Right. Anyway." Kaomi picked up her conversation with Wesley.

-O-

Raven quickly separated himself from Wesley, Orlandu and Kaomi. He said he needed some 'personal time'. He searched the crowd, finding no sign of Sevanos or Shadi. _Fate..._ was the word running through his mind.

"I hear some of the cards you can get at these shops are being debuted here!" a kid said, walking past Raven.

"Yeah, and these packs have ten cards! And two of them are rare cards!"

"Rare cards.... I love saying that." The two kids ran off.

Raven smiled. "New cards? Must be to keep things interesting." He looked farther across the crowd. A large warrior, the Sword Hunter, held a large axe in one hand and a chain wrapped around dynamite in the other. "Some battle. But what time is it" Raven looked at his watch. Three minutes past four. The tournament had begun only three minutes ago. This boy was impressive. Raven flipped open his deck, examined it briefly, and slid it into his Duel Disk. Last night Kaomi and he had stayed up most of the night trading, dueling, and trading some more, perfecting their respective decks. Of course, with these 'new cards' there would need to be a lot of changes. Raven approached the match, watching with interest as the boy launched the final blow. A total of a six-minute match.

"You, Sword Hunter Boy." Raven called.

"Name's Shuyin." The holograms before him vanished.

"Shuyin. I'm Raven. Let's duel!" Raven launched his disk.

"Fine. If you really want to get wasted too." Shuyin launched his Duel Disk.

"I'll go first. I play a monster in defense mode and two cards face-down. Go." Raven called as he set his cards.

"Summon my Little-Windguard! And for my tiny guardian, I play a new sword, the Wicked-Breaking Flamberg, Baou. Here are my two face-down cards. Windguard, ATTACK!"

"You fail to vanquish my Forgiving Maiden. Too bad, Shu." Raven drew as Shuyin's counter fell to 3900, "Sacrifice Forgiving Maiden, to summon my powerful Magical Marionette! And now, to power it up, here goes Card Destruction! Marionette, attack with Marionette's String!" Raven ordered. A string wrapped around Windguard, destroying it.

Shuyin's counter read 3500, "Here goes my Skull-Marked Ladybug in Defense Mode, and my Horn of the Unicorn and Yellow Luster Shield powering it up.

"Fool, that raises my Marionette's attack power. Attack!" ordered Raven. The string from the Marionette crushed the ladybug.

"Foolish one, you raise my Life Points to 4500, and my face-down trap, Michizure, destroys your Marionette." Shuyin drew, "Pass my turn."

"I throw a monster in Defense mode, and end my turn." Raven shrugged.

"Big mistake." Shuyin smiled as he drew, "Go, Gemini Elf! And I'll give my elf twins horns. Horns of the Unicorn to be exact, raising their attack power to 2600!" Shuyin laughed, "Attack!"

"Reveal Negate Attack!" he smiled, _Thank you Kaomi! _Was all he could think, "My move, and here it goes. Set one card and play Card Destruction!"

"Pointless, as I have no hand."

"But I do, Shuyin." Raven slid his hand into the graveyard, and pressed the Activation Key for the card he just set, "Reveal, Monster Reborn!"

"Reveal Big Burn!" Shuyin laughed as both Graveyard slots burst into sudden flame. "All monsters in our Graves were burned right out of play. So, that Monster Reborn is useless." He drew, "Perfect. I play one card face-down and attack!"

"Reveal Mirror Force!" The Gemini Elf monsters attacked one another, both shattering, "And, that Horn of the Unicorn returns to the top of your deck, so you don't draw next turn. And, since you can't do anything, and are lacking in the hand department, I'll go." Raven drew, "Set one card and play Graceful Charity!"

"Activating my trap, foolish one! Grave robber's Retribution! Each turn after this, you'll loose life points for those monsters I burned away."

"That's if you make it one more turn. I remove the card I just discarded, my Dark Magician and my Sacred Crane from play to summon this. My mighty Black Luster Solder – Envoy of the Beginning. Now, all I have to do is raise his attack a bit, wait, I can just Normal Summon! Here goes my Autonomous Action Unit, giving 1500 of my Life Points to revive your Gemini Elf. Gemini attack." The two elves assaulted their master, "Envoy, OBLITERATE!"

"Good show." Shuyin watched the Envoy fly at him, "See you at the finals, Raven."

"See you there, Shuyin." Raven watched as the blade sliced away all the Life Points Shuyin had left.

-O-

Kaomi noticed a familiar face walk out of the card shop after the group had split up. "Aura!"

"Hey, Kaomi! Up for a rematch?"

"Sure." Kaomi launched her Disk.

Aura slid some cards into her deck, "That's thirty cards a victory, you know. Even one victory is profitable." She grinned, and launched her Duel Disk.

"I'll go first." Kaomi threw a monster in Defense mode, "Go."

"You'll see what I mean. No more Miss Defensive." She smiled, "Have a taste of my Obsidian Knight!" A large warrior made of black, smooth, rock took an offensive posture, "ATTACK, Dark Stone Blade!" The black blade sliced through a weird flying squirrel, "Oh, crap."

"That's right. I get two more. My turn?" Kaomi drew, her Life Points at 5000, "Sacrifice my two Momonga to summon my Dark Magician! Now, get ready for this. I ran into those magicians I won it from after I started wondering, and we decided to do a bit of trading. And I got this," she held up a card, "Dedication through Light and Darkness!" The Dark Magician began to glow. The intensity of the glow became so severe; the Dark Magician was obscured in the light. When the light faded, another Magician replaced the Dark Magician. "Say hello to my Dark Magician of Chaos" Kaomi grinned, "Attack with Ultimate Silence!" Kaomi ordered. From the tip of this new spellcaster's rod, beams shot at the Obsidian Knight, dissolving it, "Your move."

"Impressive monster, Kaomi." A small smile crept across Aura's face as her Life Points fell to 3000, "But I'm afraid I'm going to win this. I play four cards face-down and end my turn." Four Spell and Trap cards appeared before her.

"Dark Magician of Chaos," Kaomi shrugged, "Attack."

"Reveal my face-down Trap cards, two cards titled A Hero Emerges, bringing forth my Millennium Shield in defense mode, and," Aura smiled even wider, "My Millennium Sword." A sword, much like the red-and-gold shield, appeared. It had a long gold blade and a red hilt with an Eye of Anubis marking on the hilt.

"Millennium Sword?" Kaomi stepped back.

"I told you there were thirty new cards in my possession. Some were deck-worthy. It's amazing, the Millennium Shield and the Millennium Sword have reversed stats. Isn't that so madly interesting?" Aura smiled, "I take it you pass your turn?"

"No," Kaomi slid another face-down card, "Now go."

"Good. I play my Witch of the Black Forest and play my spell, Remote Detonation! I destroy my Witch, allowing me to get the great Polymer Beast, and my spell Fusion Sage will let me get Polymerization."

"AHH! All these new cards!" Kaomi screamed in frustration.

"You don't know the half of it. Here goes Polymerization! Combine Millennium Sword, Millennium Shield, and have my Polymer Beast become a Black Luster Solder, to create the Millennium Luster Solder!" The monster resulting from the fusion was similar to the Black Luster Solder, but in gold armor, and armed with the Millennium Sword and Millennium Shield. "Because these are still by Battle City rules, my monster can't attack you, so go."

"Great", Kaomi drew. _Nothing... unless... _she schemed, "I play Pot of Greed." She drew two more cards, _YES! Let's rock and roll! _She thought,"I switch my magician to defense mode and set three cards face-down. Go." She said, slightly despondent. She had plenty of Spell and Trap cards, but her acting was profound. She truly seemed hopeless.

"Millennium Luster Solder, ATTACK!"

"Reveal my trap cards, Mirror Force and Zero Gravity, returning my Magician to Attack Mode." The Millennium Luster Solder flew at the Dark Magician of Chaos, which pointed its rod, and the Solder disappeared. "And on my turn, Monster Reborn!" Kaomi grinned, "Millennium Luster Solder, ATTACK!"

"Reveal Trap Card, Regulation of Tribe! Warriors may not attack."

"Dark Magician, hurt her, just a bit."

"Reveal Mirror Wall!" Aura smiled as her Life Points fell to 1600. She could not pay to keep the Mirror Wall, so it went poof, "Come on, luck!" she drew, "I play the De-Fusion spell card, destroying your Solder, and I place a monster in defense mode. Go."

"Attack."

"Reveal my Millennium Crusader One, getting a Millennium Crusader Two from my deck." The one Crusader shattered, and reformed into a slightly different one, "Here goes my Millennium Shield and Sword spell card, allowing me to return Millennium Shield to my hand, and I sacrifice my Crusader to play it. Go."

"Sorry, Aura. Reveal Curse of Fiend." Kaomi pressed the activation key.

"Not again."

"And sacrifice my Magician for my Ryu Kokki." A mass of skulls rose out of her magician, "And I play Scroll of Bewitchment, making your Shield a Fairy so my monster can deal damage to it. Kokki, attack!" The mass' fist crashed into the shield, sending prices flying across the street.

"Perhaps you should trade in those credits you just earned. "Aura suggested, closing her eyes.

"Hey Aura," Kaomi outreached her as the holograms disappeared, "You're good. Let's work together. We cold do a lot of damage here."

"Okay..." Aura smiled thinly.

-O-

A woman in a silver robe ran up to Alan-Tax, "Sir, first finalist, Xavier Dyson."

"Send a confirmation request to his Duel Disk, then send a hit." Alan ordered.

-O-

Sevanos smiled, "Only a matter of time now. Perhaps I should go earn my victories." He walked down the street.

-O-

Raven, now having accumulated three of his seven points, searched for his next challenge. "Yo! I saw you at Battle City; you took out my friend, Willow. You got a card of hers, and I want it back."

"Your intentions are noble, but I'm in no mood to trade." Raven shrugged, apologetically.

"I'm not ax'in ya to trade. I'm tellin' ya I'm gonna take it from ya in a Duel!"

"Fine, you're welcome to try." Raven launched his disk.

"And I will, yo." The man launched his, "I'm Mike, Willow's friend."

"Raven Vaniver." He drew, "I'll lead with my Polymerization, combining my Forgiving Maiden and Marie the Fallen One. Since I've really nothing to loose and perhaps a lot to gain by this, here comes De-Fusion!" Marie and the Maiden combined, then separated, "Because instead of Saint Joan, I sacrifice my monsters for the Guardian Angel Joan." The tow monsters were replaced by another Joan, this one in a white and gold angelic garment, with wings of light on her back and long gold armbands flapping in the wind.

"Ehhh," 'Mike' drew. "Right. Here goes a monsta in defense mode. Go!"

"I play my Sacred Crane in attack mode." A bird flew from the card on Raven's disk. "Joan, attack his monster" Two beams of light shot from Joan's hands and straight through the Giant Solder of Stone. Raven's Life Point counter soared to 5300.

"Wha? How?" Mike stood, dumbfounded.

"My Joan adds your destroyed monster's attack power to my Life Points." Raven explained as his bird pecked Mike's Life Points down to 2400.

Mike drew, "Oh, you good."

"I take it you do nothing?"

"I'll do somethin' all right." Mike shut down his disk and charged at Raven.

"Stop." Raven ordered in a deep, commanding tone. Mike did not heed this warning, and as Mike sent his fist at Raven, Raven's hand met ti and held it, "To loose by such a margin is disgraceful, and doubly so when dueling for a friend's honor, but that does not justify your actions. Learn this lesson, vile being." Raven pushed away Mike, "Mind Shatter!"

Mike grabbed his head. He felt intense pain, and fell to the ground, "What the hell are you?"

"I am Raven Vaniver, Solder of the Pharaoh." Raven turned away, "Soon the light of justice will penetrate the hate that clouded your judgment and forced you to attack me. I apologize for the painfulness of it all, but such a drastic change cannot be done without a little pain, you know." Raved drifted away. He struggled to understand the force that took over, and how he knew these things. Then he remembered what Shadi said:

_"Take this. It is a pendant like the one Sevanos has. You can use it to unlock power equal to his. It's a shard of the God's Tear crystal. The crystal was used by the sorcerers of Egypt to commune with Shadow Realm easier and focus their power."_

"Holy God! That was the power inside this little jewel?" Raven eyed his pendant closely.

-O-

"Lord Barbas!" the girl from earlier had obviously been running about the headquarters. "Have you seen Lord Alan-Tax? I must report to him."

"I'll take him a message. What is it."

"The present finalist count is up to five. The most recent; one Shuyin Beolve." She reported.

"Thank you. Is Lord Sevanos one of the five?" Barbas inquired.

"Yes sir. All seven in less than an hour and a half!" reported the girl.

"Good. What time is it?"

"Approaching eight, sir. It's darkening on the streets now." She reported.

"Eight? That leaves only four hours to get nine more finalists. We'll cut it close." Barbas shook his head, "I'll go report this to Alan."

-O-

Night was falling. The cries of duelists trying to be among the top sixteen rang thought the city. Summon, sacrifice, activate, trigger, reveal! Some residents no doubt were a bit annoyed, but Raven, now needing but one more win, disagreed. The passion and conviction and determination of other duelists kept his spirits high. "Hey!" he shouted, recognizing someone, "Kid! You're Arkith, aren't you?"

Arkith smiled back, "Well, well, well, if it isn't Kaomi's little friend. How have you two been?"

"Fine." Raven scowled.

"You don't like me much, do you?"

"Can't say I do."

"Heh, can't say I like you either. So let's settle it."

"I needed some foolish person to suggest that so I could get along to the finals. This is a breeze."

"You think so, eh? Then let's duel!" Arkith launched his disk. As did Raven.

"I'll go first." Raven drew, "I play a monster in defense mode. Go."

"Heh. Here goes move one out of the twenty moves you have to defeat me. Begin the Final Countdown!" Arkith smiled as above him twenty balls of fire appeared, and on his Life Point counter, the display changed to 2000. "And for good measure, a monster in defense mode."

"The difference our monsters is, Arkith, I had a plan when I played mine." Raven watched one go out as he drew, "I play Soul Exchange and cross-sacrifice our two monsters to summon my greatest monster. What always has been and always will be my best, my greatest, my soul card. Go to, Tyrant Dragon! By my card's effect, I cannot attack, so go." Another fireball vanished. Eighteen.

"I play two cards face down and send in Swords of Revealing Light." Swords flew at Raven's monsters, and the seventeenth extinguished

"Blast!" Raven drew. "I'm bound. I'll throw this in defense mode-"

"Trigger trap card, Pyro Clock of Destiny!" Arkith smiled. Sixteen and fifteen vanished. "Which will trigger my other Pyar Clock!" Fourteen and thirteen vanished.

"Go." Number twelve vanished. Eleven remained.

"Sadly, I timed things poorly, and caused my own Swords to extinguish, or did I?" he grinned, "As you ponder that, I'll defend and set my third and final Pyro Clock, so you can go." That eleventh fireball vanished.

"Tyrant Dragon, ATTACK!"

"Revealing my Apprentice Magician. I believe you can attack my new monster, too, correct?"

"I will. Attack!"

"That was Magician of Faith, getting my Swords back. Thank you. It'll also trigger Pyro Clock." Ten, nine, and eight vanished. "I defend, play Swords, and end my turn." Seven vanished. Only six of the twenty fireballs remained. Unless the Swords were destroyed, Raven would not be able to win.

"Here goes nothing, Card Destruction!" he gladly tossed his hand, and milled, "Get ready for this one Arkith. I may just finish you sooner than you think. But for now, I end my turn." Six vanished.

"I pass. Only two more cycles, Raven." Five vanished.

"Four turns left, all bound by swords, only have to do 2000 points of damage. Odds of success low. Really low. I like it." He drew, and smiled, "Cause I work well under pressure. Here goes Heavy Storm!" The Swords vanished, "And sacrifice my monsters to summon Barrel Dragon. This dragon can destroy your monster without ever attacking it. Charge up for Plasma Burst!" One cannon came to power. Another failed to activate. The final cannon was hesitant. Both duelists watched the gauge intently. Finally, after a pause that seemed like years, the gauge turned red. A failure. "I set one card and end my turn."

"Same here." Four and three vanished.

"Try again!" ordered Raven "Charge for Plasma Burst!" This time, all three gauges seemed eternally slow. Raven knew if he failed this time, it was over. One green light. Arkith watched, knowing if the next light turned green, it was over for him, save his back-up plan. Gauges Two and Three light together. The colors were a unanimous green. The cannons were charged. "Go, Plasma Burst!" The three cannons fired, crashing into the defending Mask of Darkness. "Now, Barrel Dragon, Attack!"

"Reveal Negate Attack!"

"Reveal Seven Tools of the Bandit!" Raven's Life Points fell to 3000, "OBLITERATE!" Two and one vanished with the other holograms. "Not bad Arkith."

-O-

"Sir!" the girl ran to Alan in quite a hurry, "Raven Vaniver. He's the eighth finalist. Only eight more before midnight."

"Raven, eh? Send our esteemed guest's disk a hit."

"Skip the confirmation procedure?"

"Yeah. Skip it."

-O-

Arkith stepped back, and if it weren't for the fact it was on his arm, Raven would have too. Raven's disk began to glow. A holographic Sevanos appeared before Raven.

"Congratulations Duelist. You are one of the Top Sixteen. Please report to the headquarters of the 108 Stars of Destiny just outside of town. A map will now be provided for you, constantly projected onto the central Monster Zone of your Duel Disk. Our Orbital Tracking System will show your location in comparison to Stars HQ. Please report there in a timely manner, to get a room for the night and trade in your Victory Credits." That hologram vanished, and the map appeared on his disk.

-O-

Raven walked the half-hour to the headquarters in a futile attempt to clear his mind. But, what surprised him was the number one thing on it wasn't fate, or Sevanos, or Duel Monsters. It was Kaomi. As he approached the enormous building, his mind was filled with questions. Was she already there? Would she show up? Was she safe? These flowing through his mind, he walked into the Grand Hall. Two men in blue robes greeted him, handed him a map and keycard, and turned to walk away. "Wait." Raven halted them, "Where are other Finalists hanging out?"

"The V.I.P Conference Room, the 'Rose Room', on the fifth floor. The card shop is on this floor, and Duelist Suites are on the twelfth floor. The first round will commence tomorrow morning promptly at eleven. Those will be held in a special arena on Basement Level Three. All Operations Floors and offices, those are floors seventeen all the way up to thirty, are restricted. The Information Office is the office right next to the elevators on this floor. If you have any further question, ask them there." The one on the left said. They both left.

"Okay. That was more than I cared about." Raven sighed, and proceeded to the elevators. The doors of the elevator slid open, and he quickly pressed 'Floor 5'. The elevator hummed slightly. It rose at a decent speed. Raven was pleasantly surprised by the lack of crappy music, or music altogether, in the elevator. It have him the ability to think. He made note of doors on both sides of the elevator, but this did not concern him. He wanted to see who was here. The doors he had entered, the front doors of the elevator, slid apart. Fifth floor. He proceeded through a hall of conference rooms. The Lavender Room, The Oak Room, The Green Room, the Blue Room, et cetera. This continued for some way until he found some red-carpeted stars on the right side of the hall. The Rose Room. The doors were made of pure oak, with gold handles. This room seemed luxurious, and he hadn't even opened the door. He, almost timidly, did. The room was lavishly decorated in crimson, gold, and other hues of majesty. The chairs were downright regal. Seven of them were filled. He saw Sevanos, and shot him a dark glare, then, he continued to scan the room, which fell silent as he entered. Most he did not recognize.

Before he could create descriptions, Shuyin stood and walked over. He extended a hand, "Congratulations, Raven."

"Have you seen a woman by the name of Kaomi Itat?" Raven asked, shaking Shuyin's hand.

"Lady Itai has yet to complete her seventh victory. I will have you notified when she does. Even better, Alan-Tax, my personal assistant, will go pick her up in my car." Sevanos grinned.

"Thank you." Raven said, reluctantly.

"I understand your lack of trust, given what a certain turban-wearing meddler told you. But the girl will not be harmed. So do not fear." Sevanos stated. "I will go speak with Alan-Tax."

Raven sat at the table. It was hardwood. Oak, he guessed.

"She'll make it." Shuyin nodded, "Don't worry."

Over the next while, others arrived. Cid, his old friend Alexander, Arkith, Some Aura girl who claimed to have been separated from Kaomi, an odd fellow named Lios who was an apparent acquaintance of Cid and Alexander, Willow arrived although Quinn never showed, and there was a long break once eleven o'clock hit. Who would be the final two?

-O-

Kaomi stood on the darkened street, her Seiyaryu shining brilliantly before her. "Mystic Flame!" she ordered. Seiyaryu's fireball destroyed the defending Celtic Guardian straight off. "Your move."

-O-

Eleven fifteen. Sevanos burst through the doors into the quiet room. No one spoke; some held their breath for friends to make it.

-O-

The Dark Hole in the sky absorbed Seiyaryu. Kaomi's eyes narrowed, "You'll pay for that."

-O-

Raven had gotten up and began to pace. Two spots left. Both had to win by midnight. He checked the clock. Half an hour remained.

-O-

Kaomi felt this duel drag on. She wasn't quite sure of the time, but she knew there wasn't much of it. She drew. Her Life Points were down to 2750.

-O-

Eleven forty. Raven stopped when Sevanos' cell phone rang. He ran to Sevanos with a great speed.

"Thank you, Barbas." He addressed the group, "We have fifteen."

"The newest?" asked Raven, nervous and eager.

"Illarya. We don't have a last name for her, but it isn't Itai." Sevanos said, with a hint of pity, "She still has twenty minutes."

"Nineteen." Shuyin corrected him.

"Yes, so it is."

-O-

Kaomi and her opponent were both down to 2000 now, both their fields clear. Kaomi examined her hand; she had nothing, "Card Destruction." She threw her hand in the Graveyard and drew a new one.

-O-

Eleven fifty-three. No reports.

"She's never going to make it." Aura said.

Raven shot her the coldest glance he had ever given, "She'll make it."

-O-

"Dark Blade, destroy the defensive monster" Kaomi ordered.

-O-

Eleven fifty-six.

-O-

"My Turn" Kaomi drew, "Although you have one monster, my Dark Blade can't finish this even if I manage to destroy it. So here goes my Monster Reborn! Come back to me Seiyaryu!" Kaomi called.

-O-

Eleven fifty-eight.

-O-

"Dark Blade, eliminate the defensive monster!"

-O-

Eleven fifty-nine.

"God, tell me she'll make it." Raven sat down, his head in his hands.

-O-

"Seiyaryu, OBLITERATE!"

-O-

Midnight.

"She didn't make it..." Raven choked back tears.

Sevanos' cell phone rang again.

Raven looked up.

"Yes." A pause, "Understood. I'll go give the farewell speech to those who didn't make it and round up our people who failed to make it back here, Mister Pryce, for example. You go take care of Number Sixteen."

"Sixteen?" Raven said, with a hint of excitement.

"At exactly eleven fifty-nine and fifty-nine seconds, Kaomi Itai defeated her seventh opponent." Sevanos reported to the group with a smile, "Congratulations again, Lord Vaniver."

Raven sighed with relief, "She scared the hell outta me." He forced a laugh; "I gotta go trade in my credits. How many packs do we get? Twenty-one?" He drifted out of the room.

"See how tore up he got about her?" Aura smiled when Raven and Sevanos were out of earshot.

"Yeah..." Cid shrugged.

"Well, it's sweet, is all." Aura closed her eyes.

"You don't think..." Shuyin looked oddly at her.

"Nah." Arkith sat back.

"Yes, I think so. I think it's perfectly reasonable to assume..." Aura explained calmly.

"I'm going to bed." Alex left, followed by Willow.


	7. Stars Finals Begin!

Raven ran to the front door as Kaomi walked in. "Kaomi!" He stopped right in front of her. Alan-Tax breezed past both, "I know it's only been a few hours, but-"

"I missed you too. A lot happened, eh?" Kaomi walked past him toward the shop.

"You know, just one second of delay on your part and you wouldn't be here." Raven smiled, "But I had faith right down to the stroke of midnight."

"What time is it now?"

"Twelve fifteen."

"I'm off to bed after I trade in my credits."

"Me too."

-O-

Sevanos stood in his office. He took a moment to ensure that he was alone, and slid aside a large painting behind his desk. It revealed another room, empty save the walls, which had exact images of ancient tablets on them. Egyptian tablets. The far wall contained three tablets. The Sacred Tablet, on display at Domino Museum, which displayed the struggle between the Pharaoh and Sorcerer. The one on the right displayed Tiamat, one of the Pharaoh's High Priests, raising a small armada to destroy a cell of ancient magical terrorists. The final tablet on that wall displayed a great dragon, the Final Incarnation of Tiamat, setting the cell ablaze, save its leader, Seros, who the dragon decapitated. There depicted was Seros' final vow: he would return for vengeance. Death was only the beginning, after all. Sevanos approached the three tablet images. None was more than paint on the dark walls of the room, but each felt so real. He placed his hand upon Seros' Tablet, the one on the left.

"All proceeds as planned, my liege." Sevanos reported to an invisible leader.

"Good. And, you understand how this will work. You must loose these upcoming finals to Raven Vaniver. Only then can I begin to corrupt his soul." Replied a voice in Sevanos' head. "Once that is done, he will take care of my vengeance for me! It's only a matter of time. Fate is on our side, Sevanos!"

"Yes, Master Seros."

"What is that saying, 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree'? Well, we can be thankful for that, can't we?" laughed the voice. "Let the finals begin!"

-O-

A call rang in Raven's suite. He answered it.

"Wake-up call by order of Lord Sevanos. It's nine-thirty and breakfast is available in the Rose Room. If you'd like, we'll just call you back in an hour to proceed to the arena."

"Thank you, but no. I think I'll enjoy some breakfast." Raven hung up and left his room.

-O-

No one spoke above a whisper at breakfast. Tension was thick. Kaomi and Raven left the room for a more private conversation. They walked to the elevator.

"Kaomi, I doubt there'll be time to talk between phases of the finals. There's something I want to explain." Raven began. He told her of Shadi, Sevanos, the ancient past, and what happened to Mike.

"I see. I could almost sense it on you." She explained, "Some sort of power."

"There's something else. Losers of these 'Shadow Games' are banished to the darkness of the Shadow Realm." Raven sighed, and stopped walking, "Kaomi, I've been meaning to tell you something, and since I'm probobly only three hours away from another plane of existence, and I may never be able to talk to you like this again, I might as well say it now."

"What is it?" she asked.

"Kaomi, if I don't make it, know that I loved you all along." He paused, "And know that I cannot let you face Sevanos, because I cannot loose you, even if I'll loose myself soon enough anyway. Promise me, you'll stay in this realm, and I promise you I'll come back."

"It's a deal." Kaomi closed her eyes, "I would like a bit of time to put everything together in my mind."

"You've all the time in the world." Raven continued to the elevator, and turned back, walking backward so he could face her, "Of course, if you and I should face off downstairs, we won't let this talk get in the way."

"Of course." Kaomi watched him turn away again and enter the elevator.

-O-

Raven entered the arena. Hw must have been the last save Sevnos, Kaomi and Aura to arrive.

"Time?" he asked.

A woman with long dark hair, blue highlights in the front, and a slightly blue forehead, with eyes an inhuman hue of blue, dressed in combat armor, and, as several other finalists were, wearing a pendant of a small, black metallic cube replied, "It matters not. At any time we may begin and at any time I may hail victorious."

"And you are?" Raven shot her a glance.

"Illarya, God-King of the Primordium." She replied.

"Impressive title." Raven sighed.

-O-

Kaomi and Aura walked together. Aura looked at her, "Something wrong?"

"It's Raven." Kaomi sighed, "If he looses against Sevanos, he'll be banished to some Shadow Realm or something. All I know is I may never see him again. I guess I'm just now realizing how bad that'd be. I don't think I could go on without him."

"So, you two care for each other?"

"Well, yeah. I guess..."

"So, let that hold you together. A solid bond like that can take the rigors of long-distance. Well, transdimensional, I'm not sure, but I'd imagine it would work." Aura suggested.

"You're a good friend, Aura." Kaomi smiled, "Let's head down."

-O-

Sevanos entered the room last. He addressed everyone. "Alright, in an effort to speed things up, the first round will consist of four double-duels. The team breakdown is as follows, selected randomly by my personal assistant Alan." Sevanos paused, "Kaomi Itai and Aura Leathe versus Lios Helos and Arkith Panzer." The four stepped aside, "Raven Vaniver and Shuyin Beolve versus Willow Rose and Avron Sesna." One of the people, a male, with the cube pendant, stepped aside with Willow, Raven, and Shuyin. "Xavier Dyson and Edmond Duke versus Cid Orlandu and Alexander Retta." Two men with pendants stepped aside with Cid and Alex. "And finally myself and Illarya-"

"God-King of the Primordium." She added.

"-God-King of the whatever she said, verses you two." He pointed to a man and a woman with those dammed pendants. "Kaomi and Aura v. Lios and Arkith, you're up."

As the other twelve took seats in the stands surrounding the playing platform, Alan-Tax, took a central position. He would be the Executive Arbiter of these finals. Of course, all rulings and so forth would be done electronically, but Alan would bring a human presence, and would serve as a master of ceremonies, more or less.

-O-

In a control room on the twenty-first floor, the girl, named Opaka, and Barbas sat at computer consoles.

"Virtual systems ready." Opaka reported.

"Activate holographic projectors and uplink duel disks into central computer." Barbas ordered

"Projectors on, uplink engaged." She replied.

"Set Life Point counters to 4000."

"Set."

"Cameras on; raise lights."

-O-

As the four duelists took positions on the floor of the arena, a ring of light on the floor around them lit, shining up at them.

"Ambiance lighting. How nice." Lios smiled, "Someone likes to put a bit of mood in their duels."

"Trust me, no amount of light in the world will change the mood of a duel with Sevanos." Kaomi shot Sevanos a cold stare.

"What are we waiting for?" Arkith called impatiently.

"Let Round One commence!" Sevanos called from the stands, causing holographic fireworks above the field.

"That!" Aura drew, "Let's rock, Kaomi." She turned her glance to Arkith and Lios, "Here goes nothing. First, I play this field spell card, Portal of Millennia. This gives all my millennia-old monsters a bonus." A bright Eye of Anubis appeared on the floor in the center of the arena, "I'll throw this face-down and I'll defend with this monster. Go, Arkith."

"I will" Arkith drew, "I'll just play a defensive monster for now. Go."

"I'm afraid I won't be as passive, Arkith." Kaomi smiled, deviously, "Go, my Skilled Dark Magician! And I'll play this Spell card, Red Medicine. Raising my Life Points to 4500." One of the three gems on the Skilled Dark Magician's robe lit.

"What just happened?"

"I just got a Spell Counter." Kaomi explained. "I place two cards face-down and have my Magician attack Arkith's monster!"

"HA!" From the defending card rose a stone solder.

"What's so funny, Arkith?" Another of the three gems lit, and the blast from the Magician's rod turned the Giant Solder of Stone into rubble. "You see, my Magician cast a little spell, this one." Her face-down card revealed a Rush Recklessly. "I'll play two more cards face-down and end my turn."

"What happens if you get all three Spell Counters?" Lios demanded.

"Believe me, you don't wanna know." Kaomi grinned.

"Then I won't let it stay long enough to find out." Lios drew, "I play Dark Hole!" A vortex began to form.

"Reveal my card, the Ancient Rod of Silence!" Aura activated it, sending a magician's rod made of solid gold into the vortex, causing it to collapse.

"I'll pass." Lios grumbled.

"In that case, now's the time!" Kaomi said, just as Aura went to draw, "My Skilled Dark Magician is a bit less skillful that some. For example, the spell it's about to cast will give it great power. Dark Magical Transformation!" Kaomi watched her Magician change forms into her mighty Dark Magician of Chaos. A card slid out of Kaomi's graveyard, "By my new magician's effect, I get one spell from my Graveyard now too."

"And it's still my turn. I reveal my Bubonic Vermin. I'll now get two more defensive rats and sacrifice the first for my Millennium Shield." Aura smiled as the ancient shield appeared; its Eye of Anubis shined brightly as it's defensive value soared to 3700.

"My turn." Arkith smiled, "I play five cards face-down and end my turn. Itai, you're on."

"Wow. You've got nothing. I think it's time to roast you, Arkith. I'll play my Rush Recklessly. Now, Dark Magician of Chaos, Reckless Silence!" A series of orbs crashed into Arkith with a red-hot force.

"Hehehe. Thank you, Itai."

"Thank me, Arkith? You have 500 Life Points left!" Kaomi laughed.

"Monster Reborn!" Called Lios, laughing, "And Dedication through Light and Darkness!" He revived the Dark Magician and instantly transformed it, "And I'll return Monster Reborn, and re-revive the Dark Magician." Next to his Dark Magician of Chaos, Kaomi's Dark Magician reappeared. "My Magicians will destroy Aura's rats." The magicians launched attacks, shattering the rats.

Aura smiled, "It's time to see one of my favorite strategies. I set two cards face down, switch my Millennium Shield to Attack Mode, and play the Shield and Sword spell card. Now, roast the Dark Magician of Chaos!" The Millennium Shield slammed into the Dark Magician of Chaos, and shattered it. Lios' Life Points fell to 3100, "Go, Arkith."

"Your shield returns to normal, meaning it only has 700 Attack points right now, so here comes my Gale Lizard. Gale Lizard, blow that shield out of existence and deal 700 damage." Arkith ordered.

"Reveal trap card, Mirror Force." cried Aura, activating her card.

"Reveal Zero Gravity." Arkith saved his monster and his partner's by switching them to Defense Mode.

Kaomi drew. _My Dark Magician of Chaos is stuck in Defense Mode like their monsters, so all I can do to attack is summon another monster. _She thought. Then she got an idea. "I play a monster in defense mode and set two cards face-down. Go."

"Pass." Lios stared intently at his hand.

"I place my Opticlops. Now, my monster will destroy the Gale Lizard." A large fiend sliced up the lizard.

"Reveal trap card, A Hero Emerges, summoning my Sword Hunter." He grinned, "Now on my turn, Sword Hunter will attack you!" The knight sliced and diced the Opticlops, and its attack power rose to 2600 as Aura's Life Points fell to 3400.

"Mi turn. My Dark Magician of Chaos will go on the offensive, and the monster I reveal is my Dark Blade, which I sacrifice to summon Ryu Kokki. Kokki, destroy the Dark Magician, and Dark Magician of Chaos roast that Sword Hunter." Kaomi smiled, "Isn't that 300 Life Points now, Arkith?"

"I'll begin. I play a monster in defense mode. Go." Lios shot Aura a glance.

"What are you doing!" Arkith screamed.

"Have faith." Lios smiled.

"I play Monster Reborn, and sacrifice my tow monsters to summon the Millennium Sword." Aura smiled, "Slash away, and finish Arkith."

"Negate Attack!" Arkith revealed one of his cards.

"Go."

"YES!" Arkith laughed as he played the card he drew, "Reversal Quiz!" all the cards on Arkith's field exploded, "Now, Kaomi, if I can guess what kind of card this is," he gestured to the top card of his deck, "you and I will trade Life Points." He paused, "Trap" he grew it, and revealed it to the rest. Final Countdown.

"My turn." Smiled Kaomi, "I play Nimble Momonga in attack mode, and I attack Arkith directly!" Kaomi ordered the assault.

"You idiot, you cost us this duel!" Lios screamed at him.

"Now, Kokki, destroy his defensive monster and Chaos attack him directly."

Lios drew as his Life Points hit 300. "No way..."

"That's all from you. Millennium Sword, finish him off!" Aura ordered. Lios fell to his knees as the great sword sliced away the last of his Life Points.

"The winners!" screamed Alan-Tax, "Kaomi Itai and Aura Leathe!"

-O-

Raven, Shuyin, Willow and Avron took their places.

"Begin." Sevanos called.

"Ok, I will." Raven smiled, "I summon my Breaker the Magical Warrior. I'll throw these face-down as well." Raven smiled.

"I defend and set two cards face-down." Willow waved Shuyin on.

"Time to kick this up a notch." Shuyin drew, "Start your countdown to demise. I play the Twilight Mage in defense mode and three cards face-down. Go."

"Wow. I'm shaking." Avron drew, "Have a try at my Gemini Elf." Two elves lunged at the Mage.

"Negate Attack." Shuyin smiled.

"My turn." Raven drew.

"Activate Covenant of Growth, transforming my Twilight Mage into an Apocalyptic Sage." Shuyin watched his caster become more aged and menacing.

"And I play Fissure." The ground opened and swallowed the Skilled White Magician. "Breaker, attack!"

Willow drew as her Life Points fell to 2100. "I place one card face down and activate Card Destruction."

_No! _Raven wanted to scream, _My Dark Magician! _

"And reveal my face-down Monster Reborn." She shot a glance at Breaker, "And to make sure that thing gives me no troubles, reveal Exhausting Spell." The Dark Magician Girl appeared on Willow's field. "Dark Magician Girl, attack Breaker with Murky Burning."

Raven's Life Points fell to 3300.

"Time for me to clean house." Shuyin drew, "Now, Apocalyptic Sage, destroy the Dark Magician Girl."

"Reveal Magic Cylinder." The Dark Magician Girl held a cylinder in front of her.

"Reveal Seven Tools of the Bandit." Raven called.

"Reveal Shift." Willow searched frantically for another option, "Direct at Gemini Elf!"

"WHAT!" Avron screamed.

"Shut up and take it like a man, Avron." Willow yelled, "It's only 600 points of damage."

"See, not even that matters." Shuyin smiled, "Activate Higher Power. Transforming my Apocalyptic Mage into my Ultimate Magician. And now, here is your end. I play the Forbidden Spell – Ultima." Shuyin laughed, "Ultimate Magician, use Ultima Magic!" From the tip of his magician's rod, a green orb flew to the center of his opponents' fields. "My Ultima is an instant victory spell." The orbs exploded, reducing both players to zero.

"Holy mother of-"Raven watched the explosion grow more bright and intense until the holograms shut down and Willow and Avron fell to the ground.

"Have a nice day." Shuyin left the arena.

"The winners!" announced Alan, "Shuyin Beolve and Raven Vaniver."

-O-

The next four took positions.

"Let's make this quick." Alex nodded to Cid.

"Yeah. Let's toast and roast these suckers." Cid smirked.

"Orlandu and Retta v. Dyson and Duke. Begin." Called out Sevanos.

Alex drew, "Oh, yeah. We're gonna rock the broccoli. I play the Black Luster Ritual, discarding these two, and activate Monster Reborn on my Gaia the Fierce Knight. Set two cards face-down. Go, Edmond." Alex smiled.

"I'll play Dark Hole."

"Magic Jammer." Alex threw another card out of his hand.

"Defend. Go."

Orlandu drew. "I play a monster in defense mode and allow Alex to reveal his card-"

"-Polymerization. Fusing Gaia the Fierce Knight and-"

"-Curse of Dragon-"

"-to from Gaia the Dragon Champion!" They both called as Gaia mounted the mighty Curse of Dragon.

"Set three cards. Go, Dyson." Orlandu smiled.

Dyson drew. "I'll play the Little Windguard." The tiny guardian appeared in front of him. "Attack the defensive monster."

"You attacked Troop Dragon. You should know this about my dragons, they replenish." As the one Troop Dragon exploded, another rose to take its place.

"Windguard, defend."

"Now, my monsters; destroy theirs!" Alex ordered.

"My turn." Duke drew. "Defend."

"I play this monster, and activate Pyro Clock of Destiny allowing me to flip it. Revealing my Summoner of Illusions! This monster will transform one monster into something else for a turn. Something truly great." The Troop Dragon began to glow brightly and transform. Another Troop Dragon appeared as the first finished its transformation. It became the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. "Now I activate Polymerization combining my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon-"

"-and my Black Luster Solder-"

"-to form Dragon Rider!" both called.

"And another Pyro Clock will let me attack. Dragon Rider, finish Dyson." From each Blue Eyes mouth shot a powerful blast, and the Black Luster Solder shot a fourth blast of energy, knocking Dyson right out of the arena. Orlandu turned to Duke, "Just give up."

"No way!" Duke threw another monster in defense mode.

"Whatever you say..." Alex shook his head, "Snatch Steal!" one monster moved to Alex's field, "And I'll sacrifice it for the Lava Battleguard. Lava, destroy the last monster. Gaia, attack directly.

Edmond Duke's Life Point display read 1400. "I can at least buy myself another turn. Defend against the Dragon Rider's assault."

"No, you can't. Remember my final Troop Dragon and my Summoner are still here. Well, I'll sacrifice them both for my Red Eyes Black Dragon! Red Eyes, attack! Dragon Rider, OBLITERATE!" Duke was thrown from the arena.

"The winners!" Called Alan, "Cidofolos Orlandu and Alexander Retta."

-O-

"Time to show you the meaning of pain." Sevanos laughed, "Embrace the darkness, fools!" A cloud of shadows surrounded them, "Let us begin."

The four drew.

"I'll go first." Sevanos reached for his deck.

"It is pointless for us to continue." Illarya looked at him, "I will commence my turn by playing this." She placed the Left Arm, the Left Leg, the Right Leg, the Right Arm, and finally Exodia himself.

"Oh, great Illarya, why do you do this to your own servants?" One of her opponents cried as the great colossus began to form.

"You are weaker than I. This is a victory for the Abyss." Illarya turned from them.

"The 'Abyss'..." Sevanos shot her an odd glare.

"It is none of your concern." Illarya walked off as the shadows faded and consumed their opponents.

"The winners..." Alan shrugged, "Illarya and Sevanos."


	8. Baptism of Shadows

A voice came from the announcement system: "There will be a half hour break before the quarter finals. During that time, the next arena will be prepared and your respective opponents will be selected."

-O-

Sevanos entered the control room for the tournament to see Opaka and Barbas at computer terminals. "I need information, Barbas."

"On what?" Barbas called up a search engine.

"You're going to use Google?" Sevanos asked.

"Everything is on Google." Barbas shrugged.

"Find information on a group known as the Abyss. And cross-reference with the name Illarya." Sevanos ordered.

"I'll have everything for you by the semi-finals." Barbas reported, pleasantly.

-O-

"Raven!" Kaomi ran up to him. "I don't know what to say about earlier. But I do know that I'm not about to loose you to that psychopathic Sevanos. That much is for certain. So, I'm going to stand by you. Whatever you are about to face, I'm gonna face it with you."

"Kaomi, that means a lot. But I can't let you. This is my fight."

"Screw destiny, Raven! Let me help you!" Kaomi screamed at him.

"If all goes right, stay away from the finals, Kaomi."

"Raven..."

"Please."

-O-

"Remaining finalists, report to Floor Thirty for the next round." The much-anticipated announcement came.

-O-

"Alright, people." Alan stood in front of a large pair of metal doors, "Past here is the stairs to the roof. There is an arena set up there for the remainder of this tournament. Hope your not afraid of heights. When your not dueling, you'll be in this room watching on these monitors," he gestured to television screens, "Now, the first match will be Shuyin versus Ilarya. That'll be followed by Alex versus Raven, Kaomi versus Sevanos, and Cid versus Aura." Alan walked through the large doors, Illarya and Shuyin right behind them.

Each duelist shot a glance at his or her opponent.

Raven then approached Kaomi, "Be careful."

"Like you need to tell me." Kaomi closed her eyes and let memories consume her:

"_Kaomi, I've been meaning to tell you something, and since I'm probably only three hours away from another plane of existence, and I may never be able to talk to you like this again, I might as well say it now."_

"_What is it?" she asked._

"_Kaomi, if I don't make it, know that I loved you all along." He paused, "Also know that I cannot let you face Sevanos, because I cannot loose you, even if I'll loose myself soon enough anyway. Promise me, you'll stay in this realm, and I promise you I'll come back."_

"_It's a deal."_

"We had a deal, didn't we?" Kaomi asked, visibly ill at ease.

"I suppose we did. Sadly, it seems fate got in the way." Raven looked depressed, "If he does anything to you, I swear I'll banish him forever, and I'll get you back. I swear it."

More memories flooded Kaomi:

"_Something wrong?"_

"_It's Raven." Kaomi sighed, "If he looses against Sevanos, he'll be banished to some Shadow Realm or something. All I know is I may never see him again. I guess I'm just now realizing how bad that'd be. I don't think I could go on without him."_

"_So, you two care for each other?"_

"_Well, yeah. I guess..."_

"_So, let that hold you together. A solid bond like that can take the rigors of long-distance. Well, transdimensional, I'm not sure, but I'd imagine it would work." Aura suggested._

"_You're a good friend, Aura." Kaomi smiled, "Let's head down."_

"Raven, I care about you a great deal. No matter what happens, let knowing that strengthen you. Duel for me." A tear formed in her eye, "If that turban dude, Shadi or whatever his name was, was right, I'm going to loose this duel. And then I go to that Shadow Realm place like those two guys who lost to Illarya and Sevanos."

"I'll save you." Raven clenched a fist. "Damn fate. Damn destiny. Damn it all! I'll save you, Kaomi."

-O-

Shuyin smiled, peering at his hand. "This'll be fun."

"Indeed." Illarya replied.

"I'll go first. I activate Dark Designator." A shadowy hand reached into Illarya's deck, "This will add Exodia the Forbidden One to your hand. Now, I play Card Destruction."

"Not bad, mortal."

"And now, here goes my Cannon Solder in defense mode. And a little something face down. Go."

"I play Vorse Raider." Illarya said, emotionless. "Attack."

"Zero Gravity." Shuyin smiled, "Something I picked up watching other duels." He drew, "This'll hurt 'em. Scapegoat!" four small goats appeared before him, "And sacrifice all my monsters wilth my Cannon Solder, including my Solder himself. Cannon Solder, inflict 2500 points of damage! And, go."

"I will" her Life Points fell to 1500. "Set one card and have Vorse Raider attack."

"Ouch." Shuyin replied, sarcastically, as his Life Points fell to 2100. "I play Mystical Elf in defense mode."

"Reveal Destiny Board." She said, still emotionless, as F appeared above her. "And with that, let us take our game to a new level." A cloud of darkness consumed them.

Shuyin cursed reputedly under his breath.

"Now, sacrifice Vorse Raider for the Summoned Skull." A skeleton emerged on her field, "Skull, attack."

"No..." Shuyin drew, "Wait, yes! Go, Heavy Storm!" A gust tore away the set cards on the field, and blew the Destiny Board into the realm of shadows. "And I play Tribute to the Doomed, discarding my Big Burn to destroy the Summoned Skull." He smiled, "Go."

"You have finished yourself. You no longer have a hand." Illarya commented. "I summon Yata-Garasu. My Yata attacks, and you can no longer draw. You're locked." She reported, as Yata struck him endlessly. The shadowy world faded, Shuyin with it.

-O-

"I promise you, Alex, this won't take long." Raven stood opposite Alex, "Let's Duel!"

"I play my Goblin Attack Force! Your move." Alex grinned.

"Wipe that stupid grin off your face." Raven ordered, "Activate Soul Exchange and Tribute Doll so I can bring forth the tyrant Dragon!" Raven smiled. "What are you waiting for? Go already."

"Okay. I defend. Go."

"Summon my Dancing Fairy. Fairy, attack him." Three tiny faries blasted away the defending warrior, and the fireball from the great Tyrant Dragon followed.

"That's not nice!" scowled Alex as his Life Points fell to 1100. "Defend."

"Spell card, Stop Defense." Raven slid onto his field The Big Shield Gardna rose. "Tyrant, finish him!"

"Wow..." Alex watched the fireball plow through his monster, "I must really suck to loose this bad."

"Yeah..." Raven nodded. "Better rework your deck."

-O-

Sevanos laughed manically as he drew his first cards. "Let's follow Miss Illarya's shining example." Shadows surrounded them.

"Bring it!" Kaomi drew. "No? Than I will. Go Swords of Revealing Light." Swords flew at Sevanos, binding him. "And send out my Dark Blade. Fair to warn you, your Shadow Games can capture you too." Kaomi smirked.

"Fine, then." Sevanos drew. "I play a card face-down and my Jinzo #7! Little Number Seven can attack you directly. Of course, I can't attack, so go."

"Okay. Dark Blade, attack!" ordered Kaomi.

"Reveal Gravity Bind!" The Dark Blade was unable to move. "Now, to enhance my Jinzo, I play the spell Seven Completed. This raises my monster's attack power by 700. Still can't attack, so go."

"I play a monster in defense mode. End my turn."

"That's right. Here's another Seven Completed." Sevanos laughed.

"Shut up, maniac." Kaomi shot a glance at her hand. It was a long shot, but it would work. "I play Cost Down, allowing me to summon my Patrician of Darkness! And now, I play these two spell cards, Demotion! Each lowers my Patrician's level by one, meaning it's not bound. Destroy J-7." Kaomi ordered.

"Not bad." Sevanos' Life Points fell to 3900. "But you won't get much farther. Heavy Storm will blow my bind away, and these two cards-" he set tow traps face-down, "-will ensure my victory."

"Nice bluff, Sevanos. If both my monsters attack, you'll be down to 100 Life Points. So, do it!" Kaomi ordered.

"No bluff, fool." Sevanos laughed. "Reveal my two traps, Mirror Force and A Hero Emerges, bringing forth my mighty Wingweiver!" A six-winged angelic figure fizzled into existence. "And this wonderful Winged Messenger will attack you." A beam struck Kaomi down.

"These holograms are a bit too realistic for my taste." Kaomi coughed.

"Itai, you fool! They're not holograms anymore." Sevanos laughed, "In this realm they're very real. And there ready to consume your mind."

"Let me feed 'em something else." Kaomi struggled to her feel. Her Life Points at a tiny 1250.

"You realize it is fated that you loose this." Sevanos shrugged.

"Screw fate. I make my own destiny." Kaomi drew. Nothing.

"You see? Call it whatever you will. Fate. Destiny. Karma. Whatever you believe, believe this. Life runs along a proper course. This course in unchangeable. This course in infallible. You fate is to be consumed by these shadows. You can't fight it. Why try? It only causes stress, and gets you nowhere. Just follow your course. As long as fate isn't fought against, life runs smooth." Sevanos lectured, as he drew, "It is all predetermined. To do anything that isn't your fate is pointless, not to mentionimpossable."

As Sevanos drew and examined his hand, Kaomi's mind turned to more memories.

_Raven and Kaomi walked into the game shop selling the Duel Disks._

"_Kaomi Itai. Let's see." The man typed away, "Three stars, Seiyaryu is the rarest card. Approved."_

"_And him?" Kaomi asked._

"_Name?" _

"_Raven Vaniver." _

"_We have no records of him."_

"_He's good. Better than me. He has Tyrant Dragon."_

"_Tyrant Dragon? Well, we can make an exception." The man grinned slyly._

A smile spread across Kaomi's face. A light charged in the hands of the great angel, but she swam in her sea of memories.

_The cloaked stranger drifted up. "Duelist Itai." his voice was deep and forceful. His face was shrouded in shadow. "I saw you on the boat to Duelist Kingdom. You were trading with a man named Lios. Lios was my friend, and told me of a good deck. I searched for you on the island, but I only met you on the mainland. Now is my chance to see your amazing deck."_

"No." Raven stopped him, "I am a duelist, too. First you beat me, then you beat Kaomi!"

"Raven!" Kaomi felt pure shock. 

"How will I be respected as a Duelist if I never duel?" Raven asked her. 

"Raven!" Kaomi cried as the blast grew to full charge, "Raven, if you can hear me, I do love you!" tears shot from her eyes, "RAVEN!" The blast crashed into her. Kaomi was thrown back, and she vanished into the abyss.

-O-

"Kaomi!" Raven watched on the television. "KAOMI!" Raven's pendant began to shine brightly. He clenched his fists and let out a scream His scream the sum of all the rage and anger and sadness felt by all of mankind. His fists became as the righteous weapons of a divine avenger. "Kaomi!" he violently released his hands, aimed at the screen. The screen instantly exploded in a small fireball. "I promised to save you." He breathed heavy as he fell to the ground. "I'll save you." He lost consciousness.

-O-

Raven awoke to see Kaomi standing above him. "Raven?" she stood above his bed. "The Semi Finals will happen soon. It's almost six o'clock." She explained, "You've been out for a good five hours."

"Kaom-" he struggled to form a thought.

"She's gone." Raven blinked. It was Aura. Not Kaomi. Raven sighed.

"He'll pay."

"You and I square off in the semi-finals." Aura pointed out, "I'll try not to hold back, but..."

"Don't. If anything, I've got to hold back. If I give it my all, that might happen again. So, why so long between phases?"

"Well, you totally destroyed the deck monitor with that Shadow Blast of yours." Aura explained.

"What?"

"Something I read after a Google search for 'Shadow Realm'."

"Oh."

"You've got some power, Raven. Just focus it. Save Kaomi." Aura closed her eyes. "I can't beat you, you know that."

"Yes."

"Are you ready to go topside?" Aura offered him a hand.

"Sure."

"OH!" Aura pulled out her deck box, and drew five cards. "Seiyaryu, Dark Magician of Chaos, Dark Blade, Millennium Shield, and Thunder Dragon. She told me you'd need these should anything happen to her in her duel with Sevanos and asked me to deliver them too you."

Raven held the cards, and tears formed again, but these tears subsided to a great blazing fire in Raven's eyes. "He'll pay."

-O-

"So, what have you got on her?" Sevanos sat in a chair next to Barbas at his computer.

"Here we go." Barbas pulled up a web page. "It says; 'The Abyss. A group believing in a connection between mystic powers of ancient Egypt and Duel Monsters. Their goal is to unify the two, and they believe the resulting power will bring about the end of the world. And during this total destruction, the Agents of the Abyss, their twenty-one leaders of this organization, can save the world from ruin and make it theirs to command.' As for Ilarya; 'The one who presides over the Agents of the Abyss, the first of the twenty-one, is know simply as Illarya. She has earned the self-appointed title God-King of the Primordium. Those in the group (borderline cult) known as The Abyss regale her as the ultimate mistress of the Shadow Arts of Egypt. The abilities taught to the ancient sorcerers.' It also says the Abyss is characterized by small black metal cube pendant things. Several finalists had those."

"This is big." Sevanos read with great interest.

"And if it's right, you're in deep trouble." Barbas looked up at him.

"I can defeat a God-King." scoffed Sevanos, "What of Vaniver?"

"Did a search on that nifty ability of his. 'Shadow Blast'. Creates a massive surge of energy. Used normally to summon monsters into the Shadow Realm and isn't supposed to be useable in this realm.' So how did he use it?"

"In his emotional state, his power goes uncontrolled." Sevanos smiled, "All the easier to corrupt."

"Yeah, corrupt away, but put a cap on his power-o-meter. That thing isn't meant for this world. What if he summons a monster into this realm? Huh? Destroys the HQ?" Barbas grew concerned.

"I'll get the Mystics right on it." Sevanos walked out of the room.

"Fifteen minutes till six." Opaka reported.

"New monitor on-line?"

"Yes."

"Good."

-O-

Raven stood in the room outside the Arena, pure rage in his eyes. He stood wearing a black T-shirt, black jeans, and a black leather trench coat.

Sevanos entered, smiling. "Hello, old man."

"Let's get this over with, peroxide-head." scowled Raven.

Illarya merely stood aside, "Are you ready, Sevanos?"

"Are you, Miss God-King?" scoffed Aura.

"Let's get this over with. Raven versus Aura."

"No." Aura deactivated her Duel Disk, "I can't stand in Raven's way."

"Duel me." Raven almost commanded.

"Alright..." Aura reluctantly drifted onto the rooftop arena.

-O-

Raven launched his disk, "Expect a quick defeat. I have to end this fast. Fast and honorable. So let's duel!"

"I can't in good conscience stand in your way." Aura drew, "But if you want honorable..." she shook her head, "Go, Millennium Shield and Sword, allowing me to add the Millennium Sward to my hand. Now I play my Dark Elf in attack mode. Go." A dark-skinned elf rose before her.

"Set two cards face-down and play Exchange!" Raven and Aura met at the center of the field "I'll take your Millennium Sword."

"I'll take your Dark Magician."

"Fine. Your mistake." Raven smirked. "Go."

"Dark Elf! I pay 1000 of my Life Points to allow you to attack! Assault him now!" Aura's counter fell to 3000.

"Reveal Negate Attack!" Raven smiled, "Here goes a monster in defense mode. Go."

"Sacrifice my Dark Elf for Millennium Shield in defense mode." Aura sighed, "Go."

"Reveal my Bubonic Vermin. As any good plague, my Vermin multiply!" Three Vermin appeared on his field, "And sacrifice two to summon Millennium Sword. Now, my Millennium Sword is fine alone, true, but here is a little added support. Activate Rush Recklessly. Now, my sword, attack!" The Millennium Sword sliced through the Millennium Shield. "Now, to ensure my Magician remains safe, Card Destruction." He threw his hand away, "Go."

"Spell card; Dark Hole!" Raven guarded himself as the Millennium Sword was swept off the field. "Defend."

"Defend all you want. Here goes my spell. Monster Reborn! Come on back, the Seiyaryu I just discarded!" The shining pink dragon appeared before him, "For all of the rage of mankind. For all of the vengeance to be served. For Kaomi. I stand strong! Seiyaryu, attack!"

"Millennium Crusader! Replace yourself!" A solder wearing Eye of Anubis-adorned armor vanished, being replaced by a facedown card. "Now I'll reveal it. Allowing me to create a chain of Crusader Summoning, filling my field." Five slight variations on a single theme of solder appeared.

"Aura, this is it." Raven smiled, "Activate Change of Heart and Tribute Doll, allowing me to summon my Barrel Dragon in defense mode, and switch Seiyaryu to Defense as well!" The great metal dragon rose.

"I can still keep my defenses up!"

"Sure you can. Set this and end my turn." smirked Raven.

"I play Opticlops in Defense-"

"Make that Attack, go Zero Gravity! And to really make you mad, Staunch Defender! All your monsters must attack Seiyaryu. Meaning, that each is destroyed, and their suicide runs affect your Life Points. You're done." Raven smiled as the Crusaders each attacked, and each fell to Seiyaryu's Mystic Flame.

-O-

Sevanos, in his flowing white robes matching his snowy-white hair, stood opposite the odd Illarya. "I'll have you know, my good God-King," he began, "I've researched you. I know about your 'Abyss', and I gotta say, you're a crappy leader. You take out two of your own to forward your own cause. You freak."

"Prepare to eat your words!" A world of shadows consumed them, "But this Shadow Game shall show you just how powerful I am. No parlor tricks like you pull. This will be a quality Shadow Game. As we each summon monsters, a unique strain will be placed upon our minds. As monsters are played, and attacks are made, the strain will increase."

Like a truck, a light hit Sevanos. He floated alone for a moment and heard a familiar voice. It was Seros. _Allow me to take over! _Screamed inside Sevanos' head. "No!" Sevanos clutched his head, screaming back, "I can take care of myself. And once this is over, I will be free of you! To live my life as I see fit!" _Never, Sevanos, _The voice replied, _because after this, you'll cease to be. _Sevanos screamed in pain as the more powerful Seros took over, transforming Sevanos into his most powerful from. His hair jet out at odd angles and seemed longer. A glowing Eye of Anubis formed on his forehead. He seemed to radiate power and both good and evil at once. Most odd, wings of white light appeared on his back. He had become his ultimate form, Yami Sevanos.

This new being, not man nor spirit, stood opposite a stunned Illarya. "You shall not get between me and my fate." He roared, in a harmony of Sevanos' and Seros' voices.

"What did you do?" demanded the startled Illarya.

"I embraced those outside myself." Replied the harmony of voices that was the voice of Yami Sevanos.

"It matters not. We shall duel."

"That sounds about right." laughed Sevanos, as he drew, "Here goes my first move, Hysteric Fairy!" A mad laughing angel appeared before the Yami.

"I defend with this monster."

"I defend with this monster." The Yami replied, mockingly, as he defended, "Fairy, attack!" An arm, bound by a chain, shattered.

"I play Gemini Elf! Gemini Elf, destroy the defending monster." The elves hit the Arsenal Summoner.

"Fool, you have guaranteed your defeat. That card allows me to obtain my Guardian Angel Joan." The Yami laughed manically, "I'll set one card face down and play Card Destruction! Now I activate Monster Reborn!" from his Graveyard, the Guardian Angel Joan formed on the field, "Joan, attack!"

"Pass."

"Activate the Autonomus Action Unit, returning your Elf, and sacrifice it and my Fairy for Wingweiver,. My Angels will obliterate you! And with your Life Points, go your mind!"

"How did you survive the strain of those monsters?" Illarya stared in shock as the angels flew at him.

"You underestimate the power of my new form. My Yami form is supreme in power, God-King." Yami Sevanos laughed as he exited the arena. Illarya was no longer in the arena.

-O-

"That's a Yami." Explained Aura, "According to what I've read, it is a mergence of a millennia-old being with oneself through use of Shadow Powers."

"Looks dangerous." Raven watched on the screen.

"It is." Aura sighed, "Look, you're going to have to use this power to defeat Sevanos now. So you better focus."

"Got it."

"Then it's time." Aura escorted Raven to the metal doors, "Let ancient energies flow through you. And may fortune favor the foolish."

"Right." Raven nodded. He exited.


	9. The Grandest Finale

"Ahh! The Pharaoh's Servant." Yami Sevanos looked over his shoulder, shadows now dissipated.

"I'm no one's servant." Scowled Raven, "It's time, Sevanos, to get Kaomi back!" he screamed. The shadows reformed. Raven's eyes radiated a bright glow as his hair seemed blown by an unfelt wind. An Eye of Anubis began to glow on his forehead, and wings of darkness shot from his back. His voice did not change, but found courage, determination, and strength like none Raven had ever felt. He was now a Yami as well.

"You're not as weak as I thought, Tiamat." Sevanos laughed manically.

"It's Raven now." Raven's stare was full of hate.

"Then let us go!" Sevanos launched his disk. "I place a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"Fight like a man." Raven demanded, "I play Soul Exchange, offering your monster to summon my Millennium Shield, a gift from the woman you heartlessly stole from me!"

"Cowering behind memories and big sheets of metal." Sevanos scoffed. "I pass my turn."

Raven carefully examined his hand. He found a sudden ease in forming stragities, and seeing combinations he had not before seen, "Graceful Charity!" He drew, not looking at the cards, hoping for a high-powered monster. No such luck. "Go."

"Defend." Sevanos smiled.

Raven drew again. Marie the Fallen One wasn't going to help him. "Summon my Dark Blade. Go."

"Go? Okay. I'll defend and set this face-down."

"Sacrifice Dark Blade and Millennium Shield for Seiyaryu! Now, Mystic Flame!"

"Reveal Negate Attack!" Sevanos drew, "It's been fun, old man." He rose the card he drew into the air, "Sacrifice Hysteric Fairy and Shining Angel to summon Guardian Angel Joan!"

"No!" Raven clenched his fist.

"Joan, attack!" Sevanos ordered. Raven's Life Points fell to 3700, as Sevanos' rose to 6500.

"I activate Polymerization, combining my Marie the Fallen One and Forgiving Maiden to from the Saint Joan!" Raven called, an angelic warrior, similar to the Guardian Angel, but in combat armor with a large sword, appeared before Raven. "And I play four cards face-down. Go."

"I will," Sevanos set three cards face-down, "Go, Raven."

"I have to thank you for these new packs, Sevanos, they are so useful. One more face-down card. Go, psychopath."

"I will. I set this card. Now, let us see who was better prepared. Guardian Angel Joan, attack!"

"Go, my Negate Attack!"

"Activate Trap Bind!" A beam of light trapped the Negate Attack card. "Now your Negate Attack is bound until my trap is destroyed!"

"Then let's destroy it. Dust Tornado!" Raven called, his dark wings stretching.

"Not bad, old man, but here goes Haste! Hast allows me to attack regardless of other circumstances. And my last Trap, the Reinforcements, raises my attack by five hundred." The Angel struck down the Saint." Sevanos' Life Points soared to 9300.

"I still have three face-down cards, Sevanos." Scowled Raven, as his life points fell to 3200.

"I have a lead of over six thousand points on you, old man. It's over."

_No, Sevanos. _Raven smiled, thinking to himself, _My Self-Destruct Switch will lower us both to zero as long as I increase your lead by at least another thousand, and that lovely Heart Reborn card will raise my Life Points to 2000, meaning I'll win. _"Activate!"

"_WAIT_!" Kaomi screamed in his head._ "Don't lower yourself to his level!"_

"_It's fate."_

"_So what?"_

"Activate my spell card Autonomous Action Unit, reviving the Hysteric Fairy in defense mode."

"Pathetic." Sevanos scoffed.

"_Don't do it, Raven. I don't want to see this man corrupt you._"

"And activate!"

"_Please, Raven. I love you!_"

"Activate?" Sevanos cocked his head, his harmonic voice sounding a bit startled. "This is it, old man, the end of this duel. So activate your switch and your face-down card to defeat me." He laughed manically, "It is fate. Dare not stray from it. You must follow through. Defeat me."

"Why?"

"It is fate."

"Activate Self-Destruct Switch, and use my Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy my Heart Reborn trap card. Now, for the destruction."

"But! You can't! It'll be a draw! You can't draw in this game!"

"A great person, one five thousand times better than you'll ever be, gave me the most sound advice I've received to date. Screw fate." A red button materialized on Raven's Duel Disk, "Good-bye, Sevanos." He winced as he slammed his hand down on the red trigger. From Raven's disk a massive explosion consumed the field. Both Duelists were knocked down, and both their Yami forms wore off.

-O-

Raven did not wake within the hour. Nor did Sevanos. Neither woke until early the next morning. Raven slowly sat up in his bed in the room he had prepared in the Star Building. He saw Aura beside him. She shook her head. Without so much as a word, he bolted out of his room. It was time to speak to Sevanos.

-O-

Raven breezed past security straight into Sevanos' empty office. He approached Sevanos' desk to note a crack in the wall behind the painting behind Sevanos' desk. Raven approached it and slid it aside. There, Sevanos stood. Alone.

"Raven..." Sevanos looked at his hands, "All I've done was at his hand. I am sorry."

"Who?" Raven asked.

"Seros. My ancestor."

"I see."

"I meant you no harm. All souls my ancestor claimed must now be freed." Sevanos closed his eyes.

"What of them?"

"All will forget my atrocities, if that's what you wish, Lord Vaniver."

"Yes. This shall be none more than a tournament. "

"To fabricate a past is hard, Raven. We will both need to take care of it."

"Agreed. And what of Seros?"

"He left me. Reeling from your actions. He mentioned something about The Abyss."

"The what?"

"The Abyss. Illarya's organization."

"She's insane."

"Yes, she is."

"She must be stopped." Raven pointed out.

"Mr. Vaniver, are you purposing an alliance?" Sevanos smiled.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, Sevanos."

"Then may we be the best of friends, Mr. Vaniver."

-O-

Raven exited Sevanos' office to see Kaomi. Instantly, they embraced.

"You stood strong. You didn't cave to the pressure." Kaomi smiled.

"I didn't care who won. I wanted to save you. With no Sevanos, that'd been a bit harder. But what about Shuyin?"

"Aura says he's been back since Illarya went down." Kaomi smiled, "Raven, I..."

"Don't speak. This is our moment, Kaomi." Raven held her tightly, "I'll not loose you again."

"That's right." She replied, shedding tears of joy. She composed herself, "So, what next?"

"Everything. The entire world. Summer's a week off, and we got quite the mission over the summer."

"Tell me about it."

"Later. Now, we return to life as normal."

"One last thing, Raven..." Kaomi looked deeply into his eyes, "Why do I remember, Aura remembers, Illarya remembers, Shuyin remembers, but that's it?"

"Sevanos and I decided it was important to keep your memories in tact. Some others may be reinformed later, like Orlandu, but just you guys for now."

"I see."

"Kaomi. What I said before the Finals..."

"Don't speak. I know."

"I do. I care too much about you."

"And I, you."

"Let's go, Kaomi. Off into the sunset, or whatever we're supposed to do now..." Raven smiled as he and Kaomi walked off.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form


	10. Part III

Part III 

The Abyss

Really, Part II started to feel a bit standard to me, so I wrote in Illarya. She started as a small time baddie, but wound up an Angel of Darkness for the great City of Angels. So the gang goes Stateside about a week before the Pharaoh to clean up a second fire-and-brimstone group, with the sort of Rare Hunter loyalty. And Illarya? Well, you'll have to read to find out, won't you? So, here goes "The Abyss"!


	11. City of Angels

Raven knocked on Kaomi's door, mere hours after his final exams ended. "Kaomi. It's time." He stood in his black trench coat. He wore a white shirt and white pants under it. The coat remained un-buttoned. Since it was a mild summer, he imagined this wouldn't be too massively uncomfortable.

Kaomi walked out wearing a sleeveless shirt with her shorts, "What?" she said as she emerged from the doorway. She looked over Raven's shoulder to see Wesley Whyndam-Pryce sitting in a car waiting for them, "Oh, that. Right. One second." She ran into the house. A moment later she came out with her Duel Disk, "Let's save the world."

"Yes. Let's." Raven hopped in the car.

As the car pulled off, Wes handed Kaomi and Raven a list, "Mr. Sevanos says that there are twenty leaders of this 'Abyss", plus Illarya. Illarya will be well protected, so it's best to hit the others hard and fast and then go after her once their organization begins to crumble. That list is the list Mr. Sevanos prepared of our 'solders', so to speak. We hope to round them all up to help us fight the Abyss."

"Let's see." Raven read the list aloud, "Raven Vaniver, Kaomi Itai, Sevanos Otaga, Aura Leathe, Cid Orlandu, Shuyin Beolve, and" he paused "That's it. That's six. It says each duelist will need to eliminate two leaders. It doesn't add up."

"We need four more."

"Ah, great,"

"We have tried a lot of people. Most turned down our offer."

"Any Stars willing to do it?" asked Kaomi.

"Maybe Barbas and Opaka, but I doubt it."

"Alex?"

"Tried him. His assistant, Mr. Cellophane, turned us down."

"Arkith?" she suggested.

"No answer to our calls."

"Damn." She closed her eyes in thought.

"Right. We're contacting some of our global branches. But so far, the only response was from our New York area branch, who promised to search for us."

"Damn." Raven said, disappointed.

"It's only four, Lord Vaniver and Lady Itai, you two need not worry."

"Wes, is something wrong? That was a little impersonal." Kaomi shot him a clod glare.

"Should it be personal?" Wes looked puzzled.

"Don't you remember the time the three of us shared before the tournament?"

"Should I?"

"Looks like that memory thingy did a number on him." Kaomi whispered to Raven.

"Looks like it."

-O-

Alan-Tax met them at the door, "Ah! Raven, Kaomi, please come with me to Ops Level Red."

"Ops Level Red?" Raven cocked his head.

"Yes. Classified operations, high priority. Floor 27." Alan explained, "High clearance only."

"Hey, this means we have high clearance and aren't even in the organization." Kaomi smiled, overjoyed at this fact.

"You are now." Alan explained, as he walked toward the elevator.

-O-

Cid stepped onto the busy street, walking downtown in Domino, no real rhyme or reason. A black car pulled up to him. Wes sat inside, "Get in." Wes called to Cid.

-O-

Raven, Kaomi, Sevanos, and Alan stood in the room lit by pale red lights.

"Cid, Aura, and Shuyin are on their way. I assume Wes apprised you of our shortage." Sevanos said after a lengthy silence.

"Four needed." Kaomi sighed.

"Yeah." Alan nodded.

"Any word from the other branches."

"Not anything to speak about. Any ideas?"

"Alan, how about you?"

"'Fraid I'm working with Barbas and Opaka here at our Central Command. Make sure everything runs smooth." Alan responded.

Sevanos thought for a moment. "Send a message to Dr. Colbert."

"Who?" Raven raised an eyebrow.

"Dr. Ian Colbert. He's s professor of archeology, and of Egyptology, and he's a duelist. Since he's an Egyptologist he should be interested to see my back office, let alone the Shadow Games. He's good, don't worry." Sevanos assured Raven.

"How about Rebecca Hawkins?" Kaomi suggested.

"Busy."

"Any of the Battle City finalists?"

"We can't seem to get a hold of them. The only ones we have tabs on are Marik, Odion, and Ishizu, thanks to our Cairo branch. They're otherwise disposed, what with tomb keeping and all."

"We need three good duelists, how hard can it be? Contact Keith! Contact Underwood! Contact Pegasus!"

"No response, flat our no, and Pegasus says he'll come if his Industrial Illusions duties permit." Alan reported.

"In other words, no." Sevanos scowled, and sat at a computer. "Come on, Ian..."

"Do we have anything? Anything at all?" Kaomi asked.

On the computer screen, a cartoon rabbit danced and an image of Pegasus appeared on the screen. "Afternoon, Sevanos! Is this the up-and-comer, Raven?"

"Yeah, that's me." Raven smiled, approaching the computer.

"I hear you've developed your Shadow Powers well." Pegasus complimented, "Well, down to business, eh? Sevvy-boy, I can't come and help you. I'm far too busy right now; I have over three hundred new cards that need to be ready for circulations soon, and three that need to be ready for their fated owners soon. Plus I've heard tale of some organization seeking a meeting with me about a field spell card. Way too booked to save the world this week. But I still think of you as a dear friend, Sevanos, so I'll send you a student of mine. A young duelist by the name of Ardrea Amun. She has studied my style. She's pretty good, though isn't much substitute for the original. An Industrial Illusions helicopter will land at your HQ within the hour. Oh, incidentally, how did those advance packs of the next sets do at your tournament?"

"Sold like mad." Sevanos reported.

"And how goes Project Iron Star?" Pegasus asked.

"Given the whole Abyss situation, my best people are on this project now, but we only expect a delay of about a month." Sevanos reported.

"Good. In that case, it'll be done according to my schedule. May fortune favor the foolish." Pegasus disappeared.

"Dr. Colbert is on his way." Alan reported, as he and Kaomi looked at another computer.

"Two left."

"We just got word from our London branch. England's top duelist, Gregory Marshal, is ready to catch a flight to L.A. to meet us." Alan followed up.

"Don't we have an operative from the L.A. branch here?" Sevanos asked.

"Serenity Tesconé? L.A. Branch Manager?" Alan asked, "Yeah, so..."

"How can you even wonder? Call her up here. We leave for Los Angeles tomorrow morning." Sevanos laughed, "You two," he gestured to Raven and Kaomi, "Resident Rooms 4 and 5 on floor ten. Call them your summer home. Anything you need will be provided."

"Sounds nice." Raven nodded, and he and Kaomi left.

"Meeting in the Rose Room at 0900 hours." Sevanos called after them.

"I wonder if they know 24-hour notation?" Alan asked

"God, I hope so." Sevanos sat back.

-O-

Raven lie awake in his bed. It was getting late. Somehow this made him more wakeful. He looked about him.

"Oh, you are brave, Raven Vaniver." Shadi's voice rang, as he appeared at the foot of Raven's bed.

"Shadi." Raven almost flew out of bed.

"So, you denied fate." Shadi closed his eyes, "You are an unpredictable force, Lord Vaniver." he sighed, "This is your advantage. You cloud all essences of fate and destiny. That's useful. So, you have a job to do."

"I'm sick of fate."

"Good. It's just that that makes you useful. Illarya can sense one's fate if it intertwines with her own, to an extent. So, your strength to fight fate may protect you and the others. This is your task." Shadi walked away from Raven, as he stepped away as he vanished into eventual nothingness.

"Oh, good. Another charge from Sir Ancient Egypt himself."

-O-

"Let's rock, people!" Raven entered the Rose Room. All were in attendance, save Marshal, who was connected via satellite-streamed video.

"Well... we have a great crusade. We will cause this 'Abyss' to crumble about Illarya, and then Raven and I will take her out." Sevanos explained. "Once in L.A., we'll assign the leaders we'll terminate."

"Terminate?" Kaomi shot an odd glance.

"We'll banish them to the Shadow Realm after our victories. It's the only way to distress Illarya enough to make a victory on her home turf possible." Sevanos explained.

"Are you sure?" A woman with red hair, Ardera Amun, asked, "Master Pegasus said a loser of a true Shadow Game is banished forever to the Shadows. Do we really want to risk it?"

"Well, I'm not a master of the paranormal," Marshal chimed in, "But I think it's worth it. We want to save Earth, right?"

"Let's go." Raven suggested.

"Agreed." Kaomi stood.

"Alright. Follow me." Sevanos shut down the satellite link-up and walked out.

-O-

"Say 'Hello' to the Star Aeronautical Vehicle Mark I, or, as we have affectionately dubbed it, the Star Wind!" Sevanos opened a large door, revealing a jet, big enough for about ten people, the size of a stealthy air-transport vehicle. A "Stars of Destiny" logo on either side, "Pile in." Another gigantic door opened, revealing an underground landing strip. This was the sealed off Basement Floor Four.

-O-

The jet soared for some time, to land in a similar fashion at another landing strip in Los Angeles. "Welcome to L.A." Marshal met them at the subterranean docking platform.

"Thank you, Mr. Marshal." Sevnaos jumped out. The crowd of ten then proceeded to the elevator.

-O-

"So," Sevanos began. He stood in a Red Level just like the one back at the Central Office. All the branches were alike, to the exact, save the staff and the room behind Sevanos' office. The general district managers did not earn this privileged room, "We begin today. We have for you the twenty-one target locations. Yours are highlighted. They're all within this area, somewhere. Try to take out the targets by sunrise. Remember, take no prisoners, just let them initiate a Shadow Game and defeat them."

"Nothing too fancy." Raven commented, "We're going for the idea of a swift, slashing, blow. Multiple fronts; confusing and disorientating. We then will be able to confront an unsupported, drained, and confused Illarya. She knew last time she was not ment to succeed, and gave us a gift. But from what I've read, what Sevanos and I saw was a fragment of her full force, so the confusion of the slashing blow will get to her. We also plan to attack her directly early, catching her off-guard. And Sevanos and I will hit her at once, further straining her. This gives us the advantage. But, if she's near as powerful as we've heard, that means nothing. We must still pray for a miracle here."

"Anyone on good terms with God here," Serenity spoke quiet, with a sense of fear, "best put in a good word for the rest of us."

"Out of curiosity, what if we ignore this threat?" Marshal asked.

"Easy." Raven replied, "The Abyss gets their hands on enough power to bring about the end of the world. And they're close now. There has been a soar in Missing Persons reports here in the last ten months, if that's true; they have a ton of power already. We're against the clock here. We have a month, tops, before they are ready to go. We have to move now."

"Joy." Marshal replied.

"Ready to move out?" Sevanos asked. The group nodded in reply, "Let's be heroes." Sevanos led the group out.

-O-

Kaomi and Raven walked through the city. They went down streets and through alleys to reach a rather shady store.

"You're sure about this info?" Kaomi asked.

"Star Intelligence Net rivals the CIA and NSA combined. I'm sure" Raven replied, "It's a bit dark."

"Agreed." Kaomi felt the wall for a light switch. She flicked on a ceiling lamp. The room this lamp revealed was that of a run-down pawnshop, no doubt front of some sort of black market endeavor every now and then.

"Hello?" Raven called into the shop, "Don Domascus?"

"Yes?" The voice of an aged man filled the room. He wasn't visible.

"We are here, Mr. Domascus, to see you about your agency. The Abyss." Raven stood, straight and professional.

"What of it?" the voice asked, now being accompanied by a body of a man, apparently forty-five. He wore the black metal cube pendant that all in the Abyss wore. He had some distinguished gray in his hair.

"Time for it to fall." Raven launched his disk.

"Is this a Shadow Challenge? Why, then, I accept." The light no longer mattered, for a world of darkness engulfed them. Kaomi, who stood next to Raven, was thrown from the store.

"For your sake, I hope she's alright, or you'll beg for the Shadow Realm." Raven drew. "Pot of Greed!" Raven examined his hand, "I play Manju of the Ten-Thousand Hand, allowing me to get my Incandescent Ordeal magic card from my deck, and then I'll play it, sacrificing my Dark Magician from my hand to summon my Legendary Flame Lord. Now I play two face-down cards. Go."

"Card Destruction!" Ordered the Don.

"Idiot! My Despair form the Dark is instantly summoned!" Raven laughed.

"Monster in defense mode, and two cards face-down. Go."

"Despair, attack!" ordered Raven.

"Mirror Force!" called the Don.

"Zero Gravity!"

"Dark Mirror Force!"

"Crap." All Raven's monsters vanished.

"Now, sacrifice my defensive monster for Jinzo! Jinzo, Direct Assault!" A disk of energy slammed into Raven, lowering his Life Points to 1600, "And that Trap is useless!"

"I play my Card Destruction!" Raven tossed out his hand. "Offering to the Doomed will destroy Jinzo. With that done, I can play Sangan in Defense Mode."

"Summon Slate Warrior! Slate Warrior, attack!" the man ordered.

"Not so fast, Negate Attack!" screamed Raven,

"Ah, so I am halted!" Domascus laughed. "By the way, in case you were wondering, your friend is fine. She's still here, with us." He motioned behind him. Kaomi floated in the dark world. "What a shame, her precious mind is going. Slipping away. Say goodbye, friend, because she's ready to slip out!" Kaomi slowly faded.

"Big mistake." Raven began to glow. His hair drifted upwards and an Eye of Anubis appeared on his forehead. His eyes burned with fires of determination. "My turn. Because of my Spell card I cannot draw, so I'll sacrifice Sangan," A smile swept his face, "To summon my Blitz Knight!" Raven laughed, "I then play Replenish, allowing me to draw each time I discard. And my Knight's effect allows me to discard a monster to attack again." Raven laughed, "Destroy Slate Warrior!" The warrior drew his emerald blade and slashed through the stone warrior.

"My Warrior takes 500 of your attack. Your monster has 1800 left."

"More than enough. Discard Barrel Dragon, and attack!" the knight slashed at Raven's opponent. Raven drew, "Monster Card: Breaker the Magical Warrior. Discard and attack." Raven drew again, "Draw. Monster Card: Kelbek! Discard and attack!" Raven drew again,"Tyrant Dragon! Discard and attack!" He continued to draw as the shadows faded, "Marie the Fallen One." He threw the card into his graveyard, "Attack!" He drew again, "Gale Lizard, discard and attack!" He drew again, "Twilight Dragon, discard and attack!" He drew again, "Thunder Dragon!"

Kaomi ran in, "STOP!" she drew the Thunder Dragon from her deck, "Raven, as these two dragons fuse to from a great beast, we form the best duelist ever known. But to do that, the one dragon must keep the other in check. If you totally shred his body and spirit, you're no better than him. Please listen to reason!"

Raven shut off his Duel Disk. "Thank you, Kaomi." He looked down, "Something snapped."

"I'll say."

"Maybe it's this Yami thing. The idea of another's spirit in my body... maybe it wields too much power." Raven fell to his knees.

"It's your body, Raven. Remember that next time." Kaomi turned to leave the store.

-O-

"Hello?" Marshal yelled down the alleyway, "Mr. Lantash?"

"Hello, Mister Gregory Marshal." Lantash replied, in a deep, inhuman harmony of two voices, "I know why you're here. So let's begin our Shadow Game."

"Let's duel!" Marshal launched his Duel Disk, "First, I'll summon my Mystical Shine Ball in defense mode and set two cards face-down. Go."

"A fool's move. I summon Vampire Lady. My creature of the night will destroy your Shine Ball." The pale woman sank her fangs into the ball, shattering it.

"My move!" Marshal drew, "Yes... Summon forth my Pharaoh's Servant!"

"It's curtains for your servant! Summon my Witch of the Black Forest. Witch, attack!" ordered Lantash, "And do direct damage with Vampire Lady, forcing one of your Traps to go to the grave as I set a Trap of my own!"

Marshal gritted his teeth, as he tossed his Bottomless Shifting Sands into his Graveyard and watched his Life Points fall to 2450. "That matters not, for now I remove my Pharaoh's Servant and Shine Ball from play-"

"No, you don't! I activate my trap, Lightforce Sword! That card is gone from your hand!" The sword impaled Marshal's Envoy of the Beginning.

"Defend."

"Now is your end! I play Share the Pain, destroying my Witch to destroy your monster. And by the effect of my Witch, I get my greatest monster, The End of Anubis!"

"What?"

"Now, I sacrifice my Vampire Lady to summon my great End of Anubis!" A great fiendish being rose on Lantash's field, "That Envoy I removed it rendered useless by my Anubis' effect. In fact, a lot is rendered useless by it's effect, but we'll show that as we go. Anubis, attack!"

"Negate Attack!" Marshal revealed, and then drew, "Let's go for it. Card Destruction!" He threw his hand away.

"You forced my great Serpent Night Dragon to the grave." Lantash laughed.

"And activate Monster Reborn!"

"Anubis, teach him a lesson!" Lantash's chorus of voices screamed. The great monster reached out and destroyed the Monster Reborn card.

"What?" Marshal looked shocked, "But my Reinforcements trap I had is useless without a monster!"

"And my End of Anubis keeps you from getting one. Pity." Lantash laughed, "Anubis, finish him!" The fist of the End of Anubis crashed into Marshal, causing him to fall.

"Now," the deeper of the two voices rang out, "I can move into a soulless host, unlike this Lantash, or that Sevanos. A host who won't resist me." The voice, that of Seros, laughed manically. Lantash fell to the ground.

As Marshal rose, only one voice came from his mouth. Seros spoke alone. "Now, a vessel free of resistance. Time for some old friends to be paid a visit." Seros took the cube pendant from Lantash, "Time to ride." He jumped onto a motorcycle laying in the alley and rode off.

-O-

"The City of Angels." Raven sighed, walking toward his next destination with Kaomi, his hands behind his head, relaxing.

"With quite the dark underbelly." Kaomi sighed, "Like the Abyss."

"Yeah, I suppose." Raven shrugged, "But come on, it's more exciting than Domino or Sunnydale could ever be."

"True..."

The two walked on like this for a while. Neither wanted to hail a cab or catch a bus. The city was so new, and the GPS Sevanos had given them was so detailed, they wanted to walk.

A man in dark clothes wearing an Abyss pendant had been following them and he took his chance. As Raven rounded a corner, the man grabbed Kaomi threw an envelope at Raven. It hit him in the back of the head, causing him to spin, but when he did, Kaomi and her kidnapper were gone.

Raven flipped the envelope open and read the letter inside aloud, "Vaniver, did you honestly think you could get away with this plan? I know of your blitz assault, so your attempt at surprise has failed. Only two duels against my people have happened, and now two of your duelists are mine. Enjoy your stay in Los Angeles. Best regards, Illarya." Raven crumpled the letter in his hand, "It just figures, doesn't it?"

What seemed like seconds later a silver car pulled up next to Raven, and Sevanos looked out the window from the driver's side, "I know where she is. Hop in."

Raven sat in the car next to Sevanos and they sped off.

"Illarya knows about us. She's got someone besides Kaomi."

"Yeah. Illarya called me and said that Seros was back, in the form of our Mr. Marshal, who really didn't deserve the title of National Champion for anything."

"Sevanos, tell me about Tiamat."

"Tiamat, your ancestor, was a High Priest who led an army against Seros, and his army was decimated. He was vastly outnumbered, and so he fused himself with the Tyrant Dragon, and set the army against him ablaze. This combination of human and monster was known as the Final Incarnation of Tiamat. When Tiamat attacked Seros, Seros was trying to fuse with Shinato, the King of a Higher Plane. He was killed before he could. Tiamat died after this incident." Sevanos explained, as he pulled two cards from his Duel Disk, "Here is Shinato. Consider it a testament to new friendship. Plus it adds insult to injury if you use it to dispatch Seros."

"Thank you." Raven slid it into his deck.

"We'll be at the place in a few minutes." Sevanos said as they sped along.

-O-

"Bring her forward," Illarya ordered. Two guards dragged Kaomi to Illarya's throne.

"You diluted bi-." Kaomi struggled.

"A real live one. Miss Itai, have you ever been an avatar?"

-O-

"This is the place." Sevanos and Raven entered an abandoned warehouse.

"Why is it always an old abandoned warehouse? Can't it ever be a mansion, or a beach, or something?" Raven sighed.

"Kaomi Itai!" Sevanos screamed. Lights flipped on revealing Kaomi standing at the center of the room.

"Raven must duel me." Illarya's voice blended with Kaomi's.

"Remote mind control." Sevanos growled, "Coward!"

"All right." Raven launched his Duel Disk, "Get out of here, Sevanos. I'll be out in a few minutes."

"Stand strong, old man." Sevanos patted Raven's shoulder, and left.

"Since you're not here, Illarya, there will be no Shadow Game." Raven said, somewhat questioningly.

"True, but this entire warehouse is wired with explosives."

"Figures."

"So, let us duel." Kaomi drew, "I summon Nimble Momonga in defense mode."

"Summon Gale Lizard!" Raven threw two cards face-down, "Go."

"Not attacking?"

"I've dueled you enough to know your cards, Kaomi."

"Kaomi is no more." She drew, "Summon Dark Blade, and attack your Gale Lizard."

"Reveal Blast with Chain. Gale Lizard, send that warrior flying." Raven said, angrily.

"Raven, my lad, you realize the looser of this duel will die."

"And that'll be you, Illarya. Kaomi will come to, she's strong." Raven drew.

"She's naught more than my puppet."

_What if she's right? What if Kaomi doesn't come to? _Raven thought, "I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, allowing me to get Shinato's Ark, and now I'll... end my turn."

"I play one card face down and a monster in defense mode. Go."

Raven closed his eyes. _What in my deck would make her come to? _He thought. Then it hit him, _Thunder Dragon! That whole speech she gave me back with the Blitz Knight thing! It means something to her! _He drew. Rush Recklessly wouldn't help him. "Pass." He said, solemnly.

"So, this situation sets in on you. About time. Sacrifice my monsters for Seiyaryu!" Kaomi shuddered, "Seiyaryu..."Kaomi's voice, though weak, spoke alone.

"Kaomi?" Raven said, hopeful.

"A brief lapse in control." Illarya's voice returned. "Seiyaryu, Mystic Flame!"

"Negate Attack! The one you gave me!"

_Raven... _Kaomi's thoughts resonated weakly in her own mind. _Using the card I gave him... against..._

_Quit resisting, Avatar! _Illarya's voice rang so loud in Kaomi's mind.

"I activate Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw." _Perfect! This will turn the tides! _"Dark Designator, adding Thunder Dragon to your hand!"

_Thunder Dragon...? _Kaomi struggled to form a thought.

"Fine." the Avatar replied.

"I set one card face-down and activate Exchange!" Raven smiled. _As long as she has Polymerization... _

The two walked to the center of the arena.

"My hand contains Thunder Dragon, Piolymerization, Pot of Greed, and Monster Reborn." Kaomi read.

"Well, mine contains Card Destruction, Shinato's Ark, Thunder Dragon, and Blowback Dragon." Raven read, "I'll take your Pot of Greed."

_Take the Thunder Dragon. _Ordered Illarya, _then form Twin Headed Thunder Dragon! _

_No! That Thunder Dragon is our bond! _Kaomi screamed back, _I could never turn it on my friend!_

_Then you'll die! _Illarya screamed back.

_If I did what you say, I couldn't live with myself! _Kaomi selected Shinato's Ark.

"Kaomi?"

"Raven-" Kaomi's voice came alone, as she odviously struggled, "Silence, Avatar!" Illarya's voice rejoined Kaomi's.

"Time to save the day. I got a plan." Raven and Kaomi returned to their positions, "Set two cards more, and now sacrifice my monster for the Blowback Dragon!"

"Use it. Blow your love to hell!"

"No, Illarya. I end my turn."

"Seiyaryu, attack!"

"Shadow Spell." Raven ordered. Chains bound Seiyaryu. "And my other card, A Hero Emerges. Come helter, Thunder Dragon!"

_Thunder- _Kaomi struggled.

"Go."

"I'll..." the harmonic voices called, "Sacrifice Seiyaryu for Thunder Dragon!" Kaomi screamed alone, "Get out of my head, maniac!"

"Kaomi!"

"Raven, I-"Kaomi fell to her knees, "Touching. Your affection seems stronger than my hold on you, Avatar. So, this duel is a double forfeit. You know what that means?" Illarya's voice laughed as Kaomi fell to the ground.

"Kaomi!" Raven ran to her side, and lifted her in his arms, "We gotta go, now!" He broke into a run, carrying her.


	12. Gift of the Ancients

Sevanos leaned on his car across the street from the warehouse. He sighed. It had seemed like hours, though was closer to ten minutes. Suspense was killing him. He stood to barge in when a sudden burst of flame came from the warehouse. A massive explosion. "Raven! Kaomi!" he screamed as loud as he could. No response. He broke into a run. Once he got to the front door, he saw a figure carrying another; the one walking calmly to the exit sported an impressive wingspan, "Raven!" Sevanos called in relief. Raven and Kaomi exited the flames. "What happened?"

"Illarya blew the place when Kaomi took control of her body. The fire started to approach us, so Tiamat protected us." The wings faded away, and Raven returned to normal, "Those wings are killer for blowing away flames."

"I'll say. Is she...?"

"Kaomi's fine, just a little tired."

"Lay her on the backseat. We'll take her back to Star HQ. We need a new plan. I've called everyone back."

"Illarya's on to us. This is bad."

"Not necessarily, we may still catch her off-guard."

"How?"

-O-

"So we lure the Abyss here, and take them out. No questing for them, plus it's on our terms." Sevanos explained to the group, "But someone will need to cover for Marshal and Itai."

"Sir, if I may?" Alan said, via speakerphone. "Seros' old vessel, Lantash, is en route to the HQ, and Kaomi will probably wake shortly."

"Thank you, Alan. So we get them here one at a time."

"What about Raven?" Aura asked.

"He's with Kaomi." Sevanios replied, "He's already been informed."

"How do we lure them here?" Ardrea asked.

"Illarya. She's our ace in the hole, here. She'll dispatch her agents to hit us hard and fast like we tried to do with her. Any leader would. The trick is, we'll expect it. I've posted heavily armed guards at every entrance to the building with orders to only let one in at a time. And we'll jam all cellular transmissions."

"So much for business as usual." Serenity sighed, "I'll inform our people that the HQ is on lockdown."

"Do it. No one in or out without my permission." Sevanos ordered.

"Sir, why not shoot-on-sight for those Abyss people?" Serenity asked.

"We don't want to harm them in the long run. Once Illarya's gone, we'll release them." Sevanos replied swiftly. "Since I'm sure Aura would like to check on Raven and Kaomi, this meeting is adjourned."

-O-

Aura entered Kaomi's quartering at the Stars building. "Is she awake?"

"No." Raven stared at Kaomi, "She better wake up soon, though."

"She knows how much you care, Raven. You risked your life for her." Aura pulled a chair up next to Raven in the room that passed for a nice hotel room. "She'll wake soon."

"She could've died." Raven clenched his fists, "Illarya has a total disregard for human life."

"I consider Kaomi one of my closest friends. I want my share of the vengeance pie." Aura made eye contact with Raven, who took his eyes off Kaomi for the first time, "I want to lend you my Millennium Sword for the final battle."

"Aura," Raven saw the anger in her eyes, "Of course."

"I'll give it to you later." Aura looked at Kaomi, "To think, I nearly lost my two best friends to that woman. Though I consider Ardrea a close friend, now, she's no substitute for you guys." She tried to lighten the mood, "Illarya will pay."

"I won't leave her side till she wakes." Raven said.

"Neither will I." Aura replied.

-O-

Sevanos shuffled his deck, and drew six cards. "Good." He repeated this process several times. "The waiting game sucks."

"What if they don't come?" Serenity asked him as they sat in her office.

"At least one will come." Sevanos assured her.

A phone on Serenity's desk rang, "Right." She hung up, "She's awake."

Sevanos bolted out of the office.

-O-

"So, you saved me again?" Kaomi sat up.

"Yeah." Aura replied, "He did."

"It was nothing." Raven said, modestly.

Sevanos entered the room, "Recovered?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Did you happen to overhear the rest of Illarya's plan?" Sevanos asked.

"No, sorry."

"No problem. Freshen up and get ready. The fight may very well be coming to us." Sevanos left.

"See you in a bit, guys." Kaomi hinted to Aura and Raven that perhaps they should leave.

-O-

"Something's not right here." Raven sat back in the finely decorated room.

"How so?" Aura did as well.

"Illarya hasn't sent anyone here yet, and something seemed off ever since we got back here." Raven sighed.

"Everyone's on edge." Colbert replied, "The idea that one of our own is out there turned against us, and another turned on the person closest to her all because of this woman who we expect to take down without falling ourselves. We're all afraid."

"Plus we're locked down. Frustrates me at least." Ardrea sipped her drink, "And I've yet to see action. I'm bored."

"Something's up with everyone. Even Sevanos, our wonderful strategy man, has doubts that we'll take Illarya down." Aura replied.

"Maybe." Raven closed his eyes, "And so we nine voyage to the heart of darkness in search of light."

"How poetic." Colbert smirked.

-O-

A guard stood, gun pointed at Lantash's head.

"Listen, my name is Lantash, Mister Sevanos will want to see me."

"At ease." Sevanos stood behind the guard, "Come in, Lantash."

"Thank you sir."

-O-

Raven sat in his room, finally watching the tapes of the Battle City Finals.

"Great beast of the sky, hear my cry! Transform thyself from orb of light and bring me victory in this fight!" called out a duelist on the television. Raven hit fast-forward. He resumed went Kaiba versed Yugi. He watched Slyfer and Obolisk attack one another.

"These duels were insane." Raven watched in awe.

The tape cut out.

"But how did Yugi use Card Destruction on Kaiba's turn?" Raven sat back. This wasn't helping him take his mind off the upcoming duels.

"Attention, Sunnydale Duelists, Abyss people are on our property." Serenity called over the intercom system.

"Let's rock!" Raven threw his Duel Disk on and ran out of his room, Resident Quarters 4 on Floor 10.

-O-

Raven arrived to the first floor as quickly as he could, beating most. Over the next moment or two, the others arrived.

"Who's first to fry?" Orlandu asked.

"Well..." Sevanos paused.

A guard ran up, "Sir Sevanos, they've broken our defenses at the garage complex."

"Ardrea, Cid, Colbert, Lantash, handle with care, they're all yours." Sevanos ordered. The four dashed off, "Raven, you and Kaomi circle around front and thin that crowd. Invite in the first, they're all yours Shuyin."

"Right!" Those three ran off.

Serenity, Sevanos, and Aura stood, "Aura, go check the security cams in the office over there, no surprises." Serenity ordered.

"Serenity, you're worried." Sevanos pointed out to her when they were alone.

"Really? You think? I'm down to our security personnel only, you sent the rest home, we've locked down, and we're under siege by people in the ranks of someone who calls herself 'God-King of the Primordium'. That's not worry, that's stress. That's hair-gray-by-the-age-of-thirty-five stress!" Serenity sighed.

"Sorry."

"Sorry isn't what I want to hear, Sevanos! For three years I've run this branch as diligently as I could, trying to get noticed by the upper echelons of the Stars, the 108, you Central Office folk. I wanted to be a big shot too. But the one time Mr. Cream of the Crop notices me, he moves his people, not even official Stars, but Central Office material nonetheless, out to L.A. to fight some great evil. They'll all get honorary memberships, rewards, pay bonuses, and I, the host to this little good-versus-evil slumber party, won't even get a commendation! Must you overlook me constantly? I want you to notice me Sevanos! Don't passively apologize, just notice me! Once! I wanna feel important, Sevanos!"

"Serenity... I never realized you felt like that..." Sevanos closed his eyes,"I suppose the Stars could use a new publicity manager and spokesperson."

"You mean it?"

"Of course, Serenity. You deserve it."

"Thank you." Serenity bowed, "I must be off."

-O-

"Prepare yourself!" Kaomi launched her disk, "You're gonna kiss the shadows, just like that boss of yours!"

"I think not!" Her opponent activated his disk.

"Go forth, Dark Blade!"

-O-

"Seros, buddy!" Raven approached Marshal's body, under the control of Seros.

"Ah, if it isn't the little cockroach who buries his head in the sand when faced with his destiny." Seros activated his Duel Disk.

"I bet you say that to all the guys." Raven launched his, "Too bad that flattery will get you nowhere."

"Just duel!" Seros ordered.

"Fine," Raven drew, "I summon Kuriboh and set two cards face down. Go."

"Underestimating me is a big mistake, boy!" Seros hollered, "I summon Pharaoh's Servant. Isn't that you, lap dog?"

"Back to a game of flattery, eh?" Raven smirked, "Well it won't work."

"Attack that fuzz ball!" Seros was quickly becoming angered.

-O-

"Reveal Magic Jammer!" Kaomi called, "Now I play Soul Exchange to cross-sacrifice, and offer my Dark Blade and your Harpie's Brother to summon Seiyaryu!"

"But your dragon can't attack."

"Wow. Give the man a kewpie doll."

-O-

"Thanks to my Negate Attack, my fuzz ball is just fine, and now I can sacrifice Kuriboh for my Blowback Dragon. I feel bad for you, so..."

-O-

"... go." Kaomi ended her turn.

"Speaking of dolls, here's my Stuffed Animal in defense mode. And two cards face-down."

-O-

"Watch yourself, Vaniver, your own dragon's breath may be used against you. But in the meantime, I summon my Shine Ball in defense mode. Go."

"We'll see, Seros." Raven drew, "Time to bring you to your knees! Activate Change of Heart offering Shine Ball and Bloback Dragon to summon Blowback's big brother. Come hither, Barrel Dragon!"

-O-

"Mystic Flame!" Kaomi ordered.

"Reveal my Call of the Haunted bringing back Harpie's Brother! And reveal Mirror Force!" the man laughed.

"Go, Rope of Life!" Kaomi revealed her face-down card.

-O-

The Barrel Dragon had one red and one green signal for it's overcharged Plasma Cannon Burst. Both Raven and Seros waited to see the result. Red light. The cannon powered down.

"Set two cards and go."

-O-

"Defend." The man looked for options.

"Let's throw this into high." Kaomi drew.

-O-

"Are you ready, Vaniver? Maybe you need your darker half for this."

"Nah, I'm fine."

"Alright, Vaniver. Your mistake. Sacrifice my monsters to summon Wingweaver! And wanna know what's better? Check this out, a card from the deck of this vessel. Remove Shine Ball and Servant from my grave from play to summon Chaos Emperor Dragon, the Envoy of the End!"

"Alright. Do your worst." Raven smiled.

"Wingweaver, ATTACK!"

"Activate Wabaku! Your attacks are useless!"

"Fine! Envoy of the End, activate Apocolypse!"

Every card was destroyed and Raven felt a massive blow as the Emperor Dragon itself burst. Raven's Life Points fell to 1500.

"It's over, Vaniver." Laughed Seros.

"Yes, it is." Raven drew and the Barrel Dragon reappeared, "I activated my other card, the Interdimentional Matter Transporter! This saved my Dragon, and it's time to play the card that I drew, Pot of Greed!" Raven drew two cards, "Perfect. First, activate Monster Reborn, returning Chaos Emperor to my field."

-O-

Kaomi smiled, "I play my Scroll of Bewitchment, making Seiyaryu a Spellcaster, so I can play this, Diffusion Wave-Motion!" Seiyaryu shot a stream of fire, destroying all monsters on the man's field, "And now, I play two cards face-down. Go."

"Set..."

"Nio, reveal Light of Intervention and Final Attack Roders! You can only summon face-up Attack mode."

"And Seiyaryu has 3200 attack points!"

"That's right. Another kewpie."

-O-

"Barrel Dragon, Attack!" Raven ordered. As he drew his hand back for the finishing blow, he stopped, "Go."

"Fool, I can defend again!"

"Attack, and go."

"Defend again!"

"No more!" Raven drew, "Summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, getting Shinato's Ark!"

"Shinato?"

"And activate Shinato's Ark!" Emperor Dragon and Manju flew into a large boat and out came an angel, "Meet Shinato, King of a Higher Plane!" Raven smiled, "Now that's beautiful, a madman beat by the card he is closest too."

-O-

"Now, I play my lovely Monster Reborn on Dark Blade. Blade, attack! Seiyaryu, attack directly!"

-O-

"Goodbye to you, Seros, old friend. Shinato, my King, prepare yourself for a little Holy Judgment! First, let my Barrel Dragon blaze a path to your Life Points, and then, Shinato, time for your stuff to be shown!" The defensive monster exploded, and Shinato raised his hands.

"Shinato, no!" Seros stepped back.

"Ye shall be judged!" Raven called as the beam of light shot from Shinato to Seros, "And it looks like he judged you as guilty!"

-O-

"Seiyaryu!"

-O-

"Shinato!"

-O-

Across the distances, and in their own little orbs of shadow, Raven and Kaomi declared at once "OBLUTERATE!"

-O-

"Let us duel!" Lantash drew.

"Let us." The Abyss man launched his Duel Disk.

"Hey!" Ardrea screamed at Lantash, "Shut those things down. You'll both have to wait your turn!"

-O-

As the shadows faded around Raven, Marshal's body fell to its knees.

"Well, well, Dragon, you have once again defeated the Angel of Darkness."

"Quit rambling." Raven scowled.

"What? You care not to know the truth? It cannot be found in some old rock, my friend. I did merge with Shinato, and Tiamat and I did battle, which caused the shadows to capture us both. This is fact."

"Why would you tell me the truth?"

"Because, old man, destiny is not what is pushing all this forward..." Seros stood, although Marshal remained on his knees, "...fate, destiny, it is all void as long as **he **is here."

"He?"

"The force of all humanity's bane, the rage and hate of our entire plane of existence..." Seros gasped as the shadows began to consume him, "Surely if you cannot sense the link, your lover can. It is the evil one, the one who has twisted our fates for millennia..." Seros let out a scream of pain as the shadow moved swiftly across his essence, "Nemesis!"

"Nemesis?" Raven cocked his head. It was too late for further explanation. Seros was gone. "Something tells me Google isn't going to explain this one."

-O-

Shuyin smiled, observing his hand, "Perfect."

"Have you ignored everything I have told you of the fate of this world?"

"Friend, let me tell you something, I slept through the staff meetings. Your boss, as I was her opponent in the Star Quarterfinals, is a real windbag. And really your speeches sound like too much plot for me. I'm the action guy, all about the duel. For Ra's sake, why do you think you only have twenty-one higher-ups? Too much plot, boyo."

"'Too much plot'?" laughed his opponent, "The entire world rides on your shoulders and you call it 'too much plot'?"

"My friend, don't take yourself so seriously, you'll have a heart attack." Shuyin drew, "Vampire Lord, attack!"

"So you managed to destroy my defensive monster. So what? Now it's my turn!"

"Make it quickly, Mr. Serious..."

-O-

"Let's do it." Aura launched her Duel Disk in the lobby.

"Nothing better to do anyway." Ardrea launched hers.

"We accept your challenge." The two cloaked strangers nodded.

"I'll go first," Ardrea smiled, "I play the Index of Toon World! This allows me to retrieve and activate my Toon World card! And then, I summon my three Toon Mermaids!" A large book and three closed clams appeared before her, "By the way, kiddies, it's now officially midnight, so I think it's time the two of you say good-night!"

"My move! I summon Gemini Elf and complete my turn." The first stranger summoned his twin elves.

"Yeah? Get a load of this, buddy. I activate Black Luster Ritual, offering my Millennium Sword and Kuriboh to summon the Black Luster Solder!" Aura smiled as the luster solder appeared before her, "Now, my great knight, slash those elves up!" The Black Luster's blade passed through the elves.

"I play Stray Lambs!" the other unnamed duelist called "With one card face-down."

"Yeah? Well my arsenal can attack this turn! I sacrifice one of the Toons for my Toon Magician Girl, and pay 1000 of my Life Points to allow my other two to attack. Archery mermaids, open fire on each duelist! Then set this card." Ardrea called, setting three cards face-down.

The first opponent was down to 1500 as he drew. "I play my spell, Mystical Space Typhoon, clearing that accursed Toon World."

"You'll pay." Ardrea scowled as the book and all her monsters were sucked into a cyclone.

"Sure I will." The man laughed, "I discard Alpha, Beta, and Gamma the Magnet Warriors!"

Aura gritted her teeth. If her Solder were to be destroyed, she couldn't make the Millennium Luster Solder.

"Valkyrion! Attack and destroy the Solder!" A robotic warrior destroyed the Luster Solder.

"My turn!" Aura drew, "Not bad."

"Aura, hold up!" Ardrea smiled, "Pegasus taught me more than the use of the Toons. Reveal Polymerization, combining Relinquished and the Thousand Eyes Idol to from Thousand Eyes Restrict!"

"Thanks, Ardrea! I play the Change of Heart spell card, to take your metal monstrosity and sacrifice it for the great Spell Cancler!" Aura smiled.

"Now, only my Restrict can attack..." Ardrea smiled.

"... and all your Spells are useless." Aura set two cards, just in case something good happened, and folded her hand, "Your move."

"Not to fear, partner, I have a plan." The second man, cloaked, removed his hood. He was a fellow Aura had heard of at Battle City. The former Rare Hunter, Seeker. His description matched perfectly, "You now face your unholy end. I first activate my Compulsory Ejection Device, removing your Cancler! Then, I play the Monster Reborn spell card and divide Valkyrion back into three parts." Alpha, Beta, and Gamma appeared before him, "And I sacrifice them to summon the Egyptian God Monster, the Winged Dragon of Ra!"

"It's gotta be a knock-off..." Ardrea scowled, "Master Pegasus informed me all three, Obelisk, Slifer, and Ra, were in the hands of the King of Games himself."

"Smart little girl." The Divine Dragon came to be behind him, "Sadly, this fake is so well made these Duel Disks register it as being authentic."

"Boy, you are messing with things greater than you can understand!" Ardrea screamed, "It'll kill us all!"

"Seeker!" his partner screamed, and fell, "You can't use that card! Remember what happened to Sir Odion!"

"He was a fool." Seeker laughed, "He bought in to Master Marik's stories. Such an impressionable fellow. It takes a firm hand to possess a God."

"You don't." Aura scowled.

"I beg to differ. It may not be an original, but this dragon behind me will roast both of you. Now I have my lambs, and I also have my Divine Dragon. I can't attack, however, because of Restrict... but that's just for one turn."

"My move!" Ardrea closed her eyes, _To honor Master Pegasus, I have to win... I have to handle this cheater. _"Draw!" Ardrea drew, "Yes! I play the spell Monster Reborn! Come forth, Black Luster Solder."

"Reveal face-down spell, Millennium Sword and Shield, allowing me to get my Millennium Sword from the Graveyard!"

"I pay 1000 Life Points to roast your Solder!" A fireball flew at the Luster Solder. As it did, the building began to shake.

"Activate Shift!" The fireball crashed into a Stray Lamb.

"Again!" Another fireball flew at the luster solder, destroying it. In doing so, a hole was blown in the floor.

"Rope of Life!" Ardrea laughed as the Solder just returned at 3800 points of attack.

Seeker scowled. He was down to 2000 life points, and he would rather pay the rest to Ra, and just toast the Solder... "I now pay 1400 Life Points to the Winged Dragon of Ra, raising it to 5000 attack power and lowering me to 600."

"I expected that..." she sighed, "Aura, if you have it, play it now."

"Polymerization, fusing my Millennium Weapons with her Solder to form the Millennium Luster Solder."

"Now, the only way to hole off the wrath of Ra..." Ardrea closed her eyes as shadows consumed them, "In the name of the Pharaoh and of the actual Ra, I shall contain you, Sun Dragon!" A fire exploaded in her eyes, "My Restrict, as you said, affects your Dragon for one turn. Let's do it. Thousand-Eyes Restrict!"

"Ardrea, what are you doing! If this things as dangerous as you say, taking it with Restrict and destroying it's owner is insane!"

"I'm not doint that, Aura. Trust me." Ardrea opened her eyes, staring at Ra, "Aura, avenge me."

"No. No you wouldn't dare!"

"Restrict, Absorption Force!" Ardrea screamed. Ra drifted across the field. Bolts crashed around the field, and fire sprung around them. Ra entered the Restrict, and a great bolt struck the center of the field. Each eye of Restrict grew wide as the beast lit aflame, and its shell revealed the head of the mighty dragon. "Please, Ra, quell your assault!" Ardrea screamed as she fell to her knees, struck by one of the random bolts of divine fury. "I..." Her hand fell over the counter of her Duel Disk as she fell to the ground, "Surrender." She voice and indeed her body faded away.

"You..." Aura clenched her fists, "Damn you... Since she surrendered, she's gone. Forever. Because of you, Seeker." Aura gritted her teeth, "You took my friend from me, and the apprentice of the great Pegasus from this world. And I will make you pay for what you've done." Aura screamed. "I release you both. This is between myself and Seeker, I have no quarrel with you." She said to the un-named man. The shadows dissipated revealing the building's lobby in ruins.

The floor had countless depressions and a few outright holes, the ceiling supports were all severely damaged, the front desk had a hole through it, the information office was non-existent, singed cards littered the ground, presumably from the destroyed shop. The elevators sat, exposed, in the distance, and chunks of debris, some aflame, lay scattered everywhere.

"First..." Aura grabbed the fake Ra from Seeker's Duel Disk, "This demonic card must go." She threw it up, and it became consumed in it's own fires.

"Very well, then perhaps you'd rather face this" he unfolded three complete sets of Exodia.

"To bad you can only use one." Aura shuffled her deck, "Let's duel, Seeker." Shadows consumed them.

"So, you have these Shadow Powers too?" Seeker asked, placing his new deck in his Duel Disk.

"Shut up, Rare Hunter!"

"Fine. Let us duel."

"I play these three cards, Millennium Sword and Shield, allowing me to retrieve my Millennium Sword, then Cost Down, to lower my Sword's level by two by discarding Elma Blade, and then finally I play Tribute Doll, allowing me to summon my Sword free of tribute. I set my final two cards face-down and end my turn."

"I play a monster in defense mode and complete my turn." Seeker laughed.

"Sword, slice and dice away."

"Sangan, getting me the Right Arm of Exodia." Seeker smiled, "Clock's ticking, girlie." He drew, "I play a card face down and a monster in defense mode."

"I will avenge my friend!" Aura screamed as she drew, "Here goes my Card of Sanctee, raising my hand to six cards!"

"Mine too."

"Yes! I activate Card Destruction!"

"No problem. Reveal trap card Backup Solder, returning my three pieces of Exodia to my hand, bringing me up to four."

"Fine, reveal Disgraceful Charity! All our discarded cards return to our hands! So now my hand contains twelve cards. And of them, the cards I need are all ready to go. Polymerization, fusing Black Luster Solder, Millennium Sword, and Millennium Shield to create the Millennium Luster Solder! Then, I play the field Portal of Millennia!" A bright flash occurs between them and a glowing Eye of Anubis appears on the ground between them. "That'll protect my Solder from this, the Dark Hole spell card!" A vortex claimed the Mystic Tomato, "Next, I play the Monster Reborn spell, returning my Millennium Sword, and to finish preparations, I play my remaining Tribute Doll to summon another Millennium Shield. Now, it's time to get my revenge, Seeker. You may have four pieces of Exodia, but that fifth is out of reach. I command my Sword to attack you directly!" The blade crashed into Seeker, knocking him back and reducing him to 300 Life Points.

"No!"

"Yes. Now, Millennium Luster Solder, finish him." The proud warrior firmly clasped his golden blade, "Millennium Strike!" she screamed. The solder sliced at Seeker, sending him flying back into the dark abyss. "Vengeance was served." Aura collapsed to the ground. "Damn Ra..."

-O-

"That's what Seros told me." Raven explained to Kaomi as they drifted toward the front door.

"I think..." Kaomi closed her eyes, "... he may be right. The same malice in the men at Battle City, the darkness of Sevanos's ancestor, and now Miss Illarya... something seems to tie them together. Some darker force."

"And what about us? About the good Sevanos, about our alliance?" Raven asked, fascinated by Kaomi's odd sense of things, but implicitly trusting it.

"Each seems to be from all sorts of forces and energies. No overlord on our side."

"Then I think its time to phone a friend." Raven broke into a run. Kaomi followed.

-O-

Sevanos stood as the elevator doors opened, smiling. Eyes closed. "Mr. Shuyin is victorious!"

Raven burst through the front door. "Aura!"

Sevanos opened his eyes on the destroyed lobby. "What did this? Who did this?"

"Raven... it was a bad man..." Aura caughed, "He used a fake God."

"Ra..." Raven stood and faced Sevanos, "One of our foes turned the knock-off Ra from the Battle City finals."

"What?" Sevanos asked, puzzled.

"Joseph Wheeler barely survived his encounter with the fake Winged Dragon of Ra. It is assumed the card was thrown out somewhere over the city of Domino. One of our opponents got a hold of it and used it here. The fake God Card angers the real Egyptian Gods, and their wrath is swift, causing major destruction and devastation." Raven explained.

"You enjoyed those tapes of the Finals, huh?" Sevanos laughed. He walked over to the front desk of the building. A few appointment notes lay scattered. He picked up the phone, and wiped the debris off the keys. "Connect me to Serena's office."

Across the room, Aura lay with Raven and Kaomi tending to her.

"That man, Seeker... He took Ardrea. She had to give herself up to destroy the fake Ra before it killed all of us."

"Raven, is there anything you can do?" Kaomi asked.

"I'll try something. If it works, I'll let you know." Raven walked off toward the elevators.

-O-

"I knew it." Raven sighed, "Just the dispatcher I wanted to talk to." Raven stood in the elevator with Shadi, moving upwards. The elevator came to a stop, but the doors did not open. "I assume that's your doing."

"Yes..." Shadi closed his eyes, "You wish to know of Nemesis, and of a way to save your friend Ardrea..."

"Bingo."

"I know that for every action there is a reaction of equal and opposite force. So, since Nemesis is an entity of pure evil, there is one of pure good."

"Where?"

"That, I do not know." Shadi opened his eyes, "I do know that this mission must be completed. All forces of fate agree." He paused, "As for your friend, you will need the power of either a Millennium Item, a power I can lend you until you defeat Nemesis. The Item might even attract the Good Essence..."

"Wait, what?"

"You have a strong spirit. Let the Millennium Scale test you."

"Test me?"

"Watch." Shadi revealed the scales, "The nature of your essence, represented by your heart, will be weighed against a feather. If the feather is heavier, you receive the scales."

"If not?"

"You die." Shadi shrugged, "Let us begin."

-O-

When Raven stumbled from the elevator, the lobby contained a frantic Serena, a few medics tending to Aura, Sevanos overseeing the medics, and Kaomi and Shuyin sitting on a mangled bench. Raven quickly walked up to the medics.

"Aura..." Raven smiled, "I have the power to bring Ardrea back." He closed his eyes and heald his right arm in the air, as if grasping something that wasn't there. Rippling into existence in his hand were the Millennium Scales. "I hope this works" he whispered, "Shadows, return the one unjustly took. So calls the Item of Judgment, the Millennium Scale!" Across the lobby, near the mangled bench, an orb of shadows formed and misted away in the way they do. Lying in the spot where the orb formed was an unconscious Ardrea, "Get medics for her." Raven said to Sevanos, as the scale disappeared.

"Wait a sec!" Sevanos pulled Raven aside, "Did you just use the Millennium Scale? One of the legendary Millennium Items of the Pharaoh! Man, that's killer!"

"You're telling me. It was one hell of a Pepsi Challenge to get these things..." Raven smirked.


	13. End of the Longest Road

"Daybreak minus one hour." Rang throught the lobby, smoldering and destroyed as it was. The nine gathered there. Ardrea, Shuyin, Cid, Aura, Lantash, Serena, Sevanos, and Raven.

"What a failure." Serena sighed, "Hey, Raven, can you get Marshal or Colbert back?"

"No. I can't sense them in the shadow realm." Raven replied.

"Perhaps they've been freed... somewhere," suggested a somewhat recovered Aura.

"All I know is I wish to duel." Lantash shot Sevanos a glance.

"Sevanos, daybreak is in less than one hour and over the night we lost Colbert and Marshal." Serena closed her eyes, "We only mopped the floor with five of those damned Abyss worms, and my lobby has been destroyed. We need to swing into high."

"You're right. We didn't come all the way to America to sit on our hands." Sevanos said, "But this is covert stuff... this isn't for the public."

"I'm sick of playing host to their party of destruction." Serena said, ingenuously.

"Simple answer." Ardrea interjected, "We have Illarya host it."

-O-

"Daybreak minus five minutes." The obviously bored female intern forced to call off the sunrise sighed.

-O-

"Attention!" Sevanos screamed into the front parking lot of the branch HQ, "In four minutes the sun will rise on California. We have found, through inquisition of defeated Abyssmen, that Illarya plans to launch her plan this evening, but in order to enslave the population of earth, you guys need the power to stop this Datrz fellow. We have it."

Raven stepped forward and raised the Scale.

"The Millennium Scale will go to your organization on the following terms; first, the Item will be a prize for a Shadow Tournament held by the Stars of Destiny, but hosted by the Abyss. Meaning although the tournament is ours to document and run from our Central HQ, but it will be at your facilities. Two duels will happen a once, always between Abyss and Star. And... okay, I've no idea how it'll work, but we'll just kick your-"

"See you at the location of your choice, Abyss!" Raven dragged Sevanos inside.

-O-

"Daybrake minus five... four... three... two... one!" The Stars plane flew from the grounds toward the ocean with the sun breaking the horizon behind it.

"Gee, evil person wanting a Millennium Item dragging people off to some island location... where have I heard this one?" Shuyin yawned.

"Are you insulting Master Pegasus?" Ardrea shot him a cold glare.

"Never!" Shuyin said sarcastically.

"Don't make me pull this thing over!" Sevanos screamed from the cockpit.

-O-

As the exited the aircraft, they looked about them. This island had, structurally, near nothing. They trekked through the forest until Kaomi tripped on a handle to a large stone door. The nine progressed down dark stairs for some time before reaching flat ground. Then they followed a thin hallway for some time. It twisted and wound until it emptied into a large room which lit with torches upon their entry. On the other side of the room was another hall which ended with a ladder only a few feet down.

"Now what?" Ardrea asked,

"'Run and tell all of you angels, this could take all night. Think I need a devil to help me make things right.'" Raven quoted. He got a few odd glares, "Foo Fighters, Learn to Fly."

"'Make my way back home when I learn to fly'. A good song." Sevanos responded.

"Not the time nor the place, gents." Serenity said.

"It makes a point, though." Kaomi thought, "This may take forever, and we keep thinking of this as the City of Angels, because we're up against its resident devils."

"That's deep." Ardrea smiled.

"Enough!" A familiar voice rang through the room. "Which of you first to play? I suppose of course it is your choice, Mister Sevanos, as you are holding this tournament on our grounds. Though I'll help you work it out. Raven? No. He has the Scale, can't risk that. Kaomi, then? Well, I have had plenty of fun with her, but I'm up for more. Shuyin? Perhaps. If he makes it to me again, he'll wet his pants, so I'd use him early. Yourself? Well, your Yami beat me before, not you, so who knows how you'd fare against me? If you were afraid, though, you'd want to get it over now. Who will you save for me, Sevanos, and who will you sacrifice?"

"Shut up, Illarya, and send yor first down here. Two duels at once, remember? So I'm sending one up there." Sevanos screamed.

"How nice. Who do you send up here?"

"My duelist down here will be Cid Orlandu, and-"Sevanos looked over to Lantash, who nodded, "My duelist topside will be Lantash Izolude."

"Ahh, my stray lamb."

"Shut up, God-King!" Aura screamed.

"Tisk, tisk! That's no way to talk to your destructor. Mine are in position. I think yours down there will recognize my newest servant."

A cloaked man entered the room and stood opposite Cid. He removed his hood.

"Beware of Lios!" laughed Illarya, "One of my new Agents to replace the ones I lost at your tournament Sevanos."

Lios stood, a pendant round his neck. "We duel, Cid."

"Lios... Why do I suspect this won't be like old times? Fortunately, I've taken my deck and game up all sorts of notches since our last one-on-one."

"Ah. Duelist Kingdom... Good times, eh, D.H. Cid." Lios laughed.

"D.H.... Dragon Handler?" Aura guessed.

"That's how he first introduced himself to us... I think." Kaomi scratched her head. She froze, "Raven... that evil sense... it's here."

"Nemesis." Raven gritted his teeth.

"Who?" Sevanos looked puzzled.

"Long story. Suffice it to say we're in a whole lot of trouble unless I go take care of something. I need to focus and use the Scale as a beacon."

"For what?"

"A roaming spirit or two."

-O-

Raven stood in shadows, alone, "how am I gonna do this?" Shadi's words rang in his head, _I know that for every action there is a reaction of equal and opposite force. So, since Nemesis is an entity of pure evil, there is one of pure good. _It hit him, "Equal and opposite! It's a scale, right? So if I can balance Nemesis, the uber-good essence will arrive to balance!"

-O-

"Come forth, Gate Guardian!" Lios laughed, "Guardian, destroy Cid's last monster!"

-O-

"Sacrifice your Gear Golem, my Blue-Eyed Zombie, and my Red Moon Baby to summon the greatest monster to exist, Gilford the Lightning!"

-O-

One end of the balance tipped. "Come on..." Raven held tightly to the scale. The sides balanced. "Yes!" Raven put the item away. "Spirit, identify yourself."

Letters formed of pure light appeared on the dark wall, "Seraph".

"Seraph, eh? So you're Nemesis's nemesis?"

"More or less" replaced the previous message.

"You have all the powers of Nemesis?" Raven asked.

"Yes" appeared.

"Alright. You're needed." Raven went on to explain the situation.

-O-

"Draw." Cid slid a card from his deck, "You're done, Lios. I play a monster in defense mode, set one card and activate Pyro Clock of Destiny, allowing me to flip my Summoner of Illusions, sacrifice it, and bring forth my great Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Ultimate Dragon, attack!" The blasts of the Dragon blasted away the Guardian, "Now I end my turn. Since this sends my Dragon to the grave, I activate Call of the Haunted!"

-O-

"Not bad. You have me fairly low on the Life Point scale. 1000 to be exact." Lantash gestured to his Duel Disk, "But I have a question for you. What's at the bottom of my Graveyard?"

"Easy, Familiar Knight."

"Sorry, the correct answer is my great End of Anubis! Now, time for my Anubis to become more menacing. You're at 2000 Life Points, so by playing the Megamorph spell!" the beast grew to twice it's normal size, "Anubis, crush Gilford, and finish this duel!"

-O-

"Blue Eyes, obliterate!" Cid threw his hand forward, "Next?" Lios vanished.

-O-

"No!" Illarya pounded her fist, "This must be the work of Seraph! Seraph counters Nemesis, meaning I'm out the upper hand."

-O-

"Next up is Kaomi and Ardre-"

"I wish to get my last over with." Cid said to Sevanos.

"Deal. Kaomi and Cid."

"Arkith is coming down."

-O-

"Raremetal Dragon, attack and finish him!" Orlandu smiled.

-O-

"You're zero for three, Arkith. Seiyaryu, toast him!" Kaomi ordered.

-O-

"Guardian Angel Joan, pass your judgement!" Sevanos ordered.

-O-

"Toon Gemini Elf, Toon Magician Girl, and Manga Ryu Ran, team assault! Finish her!" Ardrea threw her hand forward.

-O-

"Tyrant Dragon, obliterate!" Raven smiled.

-O-

"Woodland Sprite, remove the Elma Blade to inflict 500 damage, then Elma returns to me and I do it again. I can do it four more times if you want, but it might be more efficient to surrender." Aura shot a glance at Kaomi, "Thanks for the combo."

-O-

"Time to go bye-bye. My wonderful planetary agents, knock her into the cosmos!" Serenity smiled. "Yay for me!"

-O-

"Harpie Lady Sisters and Dark Magician Girl, that's a total of almost 4000 damage. You're done." Serenity smiled.

-O-

"Monster Reborn your Chaos Emperor Dragon and activate Apocalypse! That's all, folks!" Lantash grinned.

-O-

"This is it, my dark-mannered friend." Shuyin grinned, "Vampire Lord, take a bite out of his Life Points!"

-O-

"Ready Kaomi?" Raven asked as they stood against two opponents.

"Activate Polymerization, combining Thunder Dragon" Kaomi rose the Thunder Dragon and the Polymerization spell.

"And Thunder Dragon!" Raven rose his Thunder Dragon.

"To make the Twin Headed Thunder Dragon!" Both called as their monsters fused.

"And as our dragons become one as do our actions." Raven explained.

"The dragons are as we are, Raven." Kaomi smiled.

"ATTACK!" They both ordered.

"And now, I activate the trap Pyro Clock of Destiny, allowing us to attack again!" Raven called.

"ATTACK!" They both ordered.

-O-

"Two left, Illarya." Sevanos smiled, "Then it's you."

"Sevanos," Ardrea looked at him, "We've been dueling in either this dark room or the one just like it up there for almost twelve hours now. And we were up all last night dueling and holding the fort and in my case saving lives, god slaying, and visiting the Shadow Realm."

"Yeah, we're all exhausted." Kaomi said.

"Sevanos, we still have about five hours, perhaps a rest?" Raven suggested.

"After these two." Sevanos conceded.

"A double duel between my last two and the team of your choosing."

"Orlandu, Beolve, you're up. Argue and you die." Serenity said, fatigued.

"Done." Cid launched his Disk.

"No problemo." Shuyin launched his as well.

"You take none of this seriously." Cid shot Shuyin a glance.

"Should I?"

Cid laughed, "Nah, I sort of envy you for that."

Two duelists took the positions opposite them. Kaomi instantly recognized them. "Willow and Quinn."

"Guys, they're Spellcaster duelists! A great team combination, and probably at least casually dating." Raven called.

"Raven?" Kaomi shot him a glance.

"I calls 'em as I sees 'em." Raven laughed.

"Let's duel!" Shuyin called.

"I place one arid face-down and summon the Pixie Knight in defense mode." Willow smiled.

"I play Troop Dragon in Defense Mode." Cid threw his card down.

"One card face down and I play Skilled Dark Magician."

"I have you all beat. Activate Soul Exchange offering the Skilled Dark Magician and summon the Total Defense Shogun!"

"Not bad, for a newbie." Willow drew, "Activate the spell card Restrictor Revolution, inflicting 200 damage for each card in your hands!"

Both Cid's and Shuyin's counters fell to 3000.

"You call that a move? Sacrifice my Troop Dragon for the Luster Dragon #2!" The proud green dragon rose as another Troop Dragon came to exist next to it. "Now, Flame Breath!" The fires of the dragon shot at Quinn, but the Pixie intercepted.

"And that returns Restrictor to my hand."

"Card Destruction!" Cid smiled, "Too bad."

"I summon forth the Skilled White Magician in defense mode." Quinn made a gesture of passing the remainder of his turn.

"Al right. I now play the spell Array of Revealing Light!" he laughed, "Your Spellcasters can't attack the turn they enter the field! And I'll set this."

"Well, then, I suppose playing these dual Soul Exchanges and offering both the Luster Dragon and the Shogun to play the Dark Magician." Willow laughed.

"Well, I'll play my Dragon Dwelling in the Cave, defending me further." Cid looked to Shuyin.

"Play Time Wizard, and activate effect! Time Roulette!" Quinn called.

"They have the upper hand. Why are they doing this... unless..." Cid watched as the Roulette began to spin.

"Come on!" Willow called.

"Shuyin, they're trying to transform the Dark Magician into the Dark Sage!" Cid looked to Shuyin.

"Aw, crap." Shuyin closed his eyes.

The arrow stopped pointing at the Time Warp. "Time Magic!" The Dragons aged a thousand years and corroded to nothingness. The Dark Magician on the other hand grew to be the Dark Sage.

"As per my Sage's effect, I get one spell from my deck, the Ragnarock spell card."

"And I play Monster Reborn, reviving the Dark Magician." The Magician reappeared on Quinn's field, "Dark Magic Attack, Shuyin's Life Points!"

"Call of the Haunted! Return to me my Shogun!" The Shogun appeared on Shuyin's field, "Sorry, Quinn." The Shogun shrugged off the assault.

"It matters not." Willow smiled.

"Yeah, well, as you know, my last Troop Dragon came after that Time Assault, so I play my monster in defense mode and complete my turn." Cid sighed.

"You think it's bad, Cid? Well it's worse than you think. I sacrifice my monster for the Dark Magician Girl! Now that the Dark Magician and the Dark Magician Girl are in play, I can activate, arguably, the most powerful spell in Duel Monsters!" Willow laughed, "Ragnarock!" All the monsters in the team's decks appeared behind them, floating thought the room. Then a magic circle appeared above Shuyin and Cid. "My foes, this removes all monsters besides the casters from the game!" All the monsters on Shuyin's and Cid's Duel Disks, decks, and Graveyards shot into the circle. As the Dark Magician and it's female counterpart spun, the circle exploded.

"It's over. Our magicians can't attack till next turn, but it's still over."

"Really?" Shuyin smiled, "I beg to differ. You see, now it's my turn. I activate the spell Dimension Fusion!"

"Yes! I Special Summon Red Eyes Black Dragon, K, Y, and Z pieces, and the mighty Tir-Horned Dragon!"

"I summon Total Defense Shogun, Cosmo Queen, Sword Hunter, Gemini Elf, and Raremetal Dragon!"

"I obtain..."

"Don't care." Shuyin sat a card face down as he stared down an armada of high-powered Spellcasters.

"Now, Dark Magician of Chaos, attack Z-Metal Tank!" Quinn ordered.

"Mirror Force!" Shuyin smiled.

"Damn!" Willow and Quinn threw out all their monsters.

"Yeah." Cid smiled, "Combine X, Y, and Z to form the mighty XYZ Dragon Cannon!" The great cannon tank thing formed. "Now, Dragon Cannon, Tri-Horned and Red Eyes, attack Willow and finish her!"

"And then there were none!" Shuyin drew his hand back, "Monsters, all assault!" All Shuyin's monsters flew at Quinn, knocking him back into the shadows.

"Thanks." Cid sighed, "If not for the Dimension Fusion we'd have been sitting ducks."

"No prob, Cid." Shuyin sat aginst the back wall.

"That's all of them Illarya!" Sevanos screamed.

"Good show, Sevanos." Illarya's voice replied, slightly trembling.

"She's afraid. Nemesis was held off by the presence of Seraph." Kaomi explained, "She's lost the upper hand and this frightens her. She's becoming desperate." Kaomi explained.

"How do you know all that?" Serena asked.

"I can almost sense it in her voice." Kaomi looked to Raven, "She might do something drastic."

"Time off?" Sevanos asked.

"You wanted her off-guard. We go now." Raven said.

"'We?'" Sevanos cocked his head.

"You and I duel together on this one, Sevanos. In case we need a little help." Raven hinted at their Yami forms.

"Illarya. Next fight is up there. Raven and I versus you!" Sevanos called, "Let's go on up."

"Raven!" Kaomi called. "Be careful!"

"Good luck, Sevvy-boy!" Ardrea smiled.

"Yeah! Show the God-King of the Primordium that titles aren't everything!" Aura cheered, tossing the Millennium Sword to Raven.

"Get 'er, sir!" Serenity smiled.

"Toast 'em and roast 'em!" Shuyin yelled.

"You can do it Mister Vaniver!" Lantash chimed in with support.

"Show the psycho we mean business!" Cid cheered.

With the cheers of the other seven, Raven and Sevanos climbed up the ladder.

"C'mon! I can't stand the suspense down here!" Kaomi ran to the ladder. Others followed suit.


	14. True Colors

Raven and Sevanos walked through the room, no sigh of Illarya.

"Up the stairs, gentlemen. Your friends are free to come and watch" Illarya had a sort of insane sound to her voice.

Raven and Sevanos exchanged glances and walked up the set of stairs before them.

-O-

Illarya sat on a throne in a torch-lit room, decorated in regal colors. "Welcome to my throne room, friends!" she said in a remotely insane tone.

"Woah!" Shuyin stepped back.

"Hmm, you remember the face of your destructor. How nice to see you again Shuyin!" Illarya had changed little since the Star Finals, she still had dark hair with blue highlights, a slightly blue-tinted forehead, eyes an inhuman blue. She now wore combat armor of a king rather than regular armor.

"Illarya, this will be a two-on-one duel. So although we both start at 4000 Life Points, you start at 8000. You also get a turn after each of ours." Raven explained

"Your terms are acceptable." Illarya stood.

"Where's your Duel Disk?" Sevanos asked.

"Right here." Shadows surrounded Illarya's left arm, and a Duel Disk, just like those of Raven and Sevanos, but black in color instead of white, materialized.

"Ever wonder if we were in over our heads?" Raven asked.

"Nope. I knew all along." Sevanos closed his eyes.

"Duel!" All three launched their Duel Disks. The room filled with shadows.

"A good Shadow Game needs rules. How's this?"

Behind Raven appeared his Yami form, Tiamat. Behind Sevanos appeared Seros, and behind Illarya appeared one similar to her, except with dark hair, a normal forehead, and green eyes.

"Simple rules. As each player looses Life Points, their other form slowly takes over. And since none of us are on great terms with our other forms, this should be fun! Oh, and as they take over, the normal you starts to go bye-bye to the Shadow Realm."

"Sounds fine to me. If there was a good Illarya, the right thing to do would be to free her!" Rave raised his hand and the Scale and a rope appeared. He hung the Scale from his neck.

"Let's do this, Raven!" Sevanos drew, "Summon Hysteric Fairy and place two cards face-down.

"I play Sangan in defense mode and two cards face-down.

"Draw." Raven drew, "Activate the Incandescent Ordeal spell card! This allows me to discard my Skull-Marked Ladybug, giving me 1000 Life Points, and my Blowback Dragon to summon the Legendary Flame Lord! Then I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior and set this last card face down. Now, Breaker, slice up the Sangan!"

"Allowing me to get The Left Leg of Exodia."

"LFL, attack directly!" The Flame Lord shot a stream of fire at Illarya, knocking her back and taking off 2400 Life Points.

"So?" A circle of light surrounded her feet and shot halfway up her leg, "I still have 5600 Life Points.

"And I have 5000." Raven pointed out.

"I set this monster and set another card face down. Go."

"Summon Kelbek in Attack Mode!" Sevanos smiled, "This is too easy, Illarya. Now, Fairy, attack!"

"Revealing my Gear Golem, the Moving Fortress!" Illarya laughed.

"No!" A circle of light shot a little way up his legs, as his counter fell to 3600.

"Yes, and now to get more of Exodia in my hand, I play Pot of Greed!" Illarya smiled.

"Reveal trap card, Mystical Refpanel!" Raven smiled. The pot of Greed fizzled out of Illarya's control and into Ravens, "Now I draw two cards!" Raven did so.

Trigger my trap, Destiny Board, and my other trap, Disappear! This makes that LFL of yours simply go poof." Illarya laughed.

"Spell card Prohibition! I stop Spirit Message 'L' from being played," Raven threw his card down, "Then I set one card and a monster in defense mode. Go."

"Yes! Soon you'll be done, mortal! Not only do I start on my Destiny Board by playing Spirit Message I, but also Exodia has begun to form! I pass my turn!" Illarya said, arrogantly.

"We'll see about that. I activate the spell Dark Designator! This adds your Last Turn to your hand. I play the field spell card The Sanctuary in the Sky!" A large floating sanctuary appeared behind him, "This guards my more angelic monsters. Now, sacrifice my Kelbek and Hysteric Fairy for the Guardian Angel Joan! Now Joanie, destroy that Elf and give me 800 Life Points." The circle fell back to beneath Sevanos' feet.

"My move, after Spirit Message N appears." Illarya smiled. "Would you look at that? One to go. I play Witch of the Black Forest in defense mode. And one card face-down."

"Reveal face-down monster Morphing Jar!" Raven smiled.

"I knew you had a plan!" Sevanos sighed with relief.

"No!" Illarya threw away her hand. As did Raven and Sevanos.

"Now we all draw five cards." Raven explained. "And I got the ones I needed. First, I offer the two monsters on my field to summon the Millennium Sword, then I play Polymerization, fusing my Forgiving Maiden and my Marie the Fallen One to summon my Saint Joan!" The great golden blade and the divine warrior appeared before Raven, "Now my Joan will attack!"

"Mirror Force!" Illarya laughed. "And as I get the Spirit Message A my turn begins!"

"Too bad you can't get L." Sevanos gestured to Raven's Prohibition Spell.

"How true, Sevanos." Illarya smiled, "I offer my Witch allowing me to get Exodia the Forbidden One, to summon my mighty Summoned Skull, equipped with the Mage Power spell card raising it's attack to 5000! Skull, Lightning Strike Attack! Finish Vaniver!"

"Nay!" A fur ball appeared in front of the bolt soaring at Raven. "Kuriboh blocks the attack!"

"Raven, we're in a bit deep here..." Sevanos closed his eyes.

"Really? I couldn't have guessed." Raven shot a glance back at his Yami form, Tiamat,

"Guys!" Kaomi screamed, "You can't just give up! It may look hopeless, but it's not!"

"That's a nice thought, girlie, but this is our Shadow Game." Illarya shot Kaomi a cold stare.

"Shut up, Illarya! Listen, you can't give up. Where there is life, there is hope!" Kaomi screamed at them.

"Silence!" Illarya's eyes grew wide and Kaomi flew backward.

"Ouch. This'll hurt her." Shuyin couldn't look.

"For your sake, apologize." Raven ordered.

"She intruded. I took care of her. Simple as that." Illarya scoffed, "Besides, what could you do to me?"

"You asked the wrong question!" Sevanois drew, "Activate Spell Card Heavy Storm!" The FINAL pieces and Prohibition among other cards flew into the shadows above them. "Now I play Monster Reborn reviving the Angel Joan, then I play Soul Exchange, offering Summoned Skull for Doma, the Angel of Silence! Effective name as it will help silence you! Doma and Joan, attack!" The angels attacked Illarya and took 3400 of her Life Points, knocking her counter down to 2200, the glowing circle shot up to Illarya's chest plate, as the image of her other self slowly became replaced by the blue-tinted demoness Illarya the others had come to know.

"My move I play a monster to defend."

"Useless." Raven drew, "You're done, heartless one! I, too, play Monster Reborn, returning the Saint Joan, and then I play Shinato's Ark, discarding Tyrant Dragon and Blitz Knight to summon Shinato! Then, this card, Spell Reproduction, discarding the Replinish spell card to return the Tyrant Dragon! Now, Tyrant Dragon blast away her monster and Shinato take the last of her Life Points!" The monsters did as they were told, and the circle shot above Illarya's head. The blue-ish demonic Illarya took the place of the green-eyed woman, and she became engulfed by shadows. As the duel ended, the Illarya none had seen fell to her knees. Sevanos and Serenity ran over to help her. Raven ran to Kaomi's side.

"She hit the wall pretty hard." Ardrea, who stood with Aura near where Kaomi lay, said.

"Kaomi, are you okay?" Raven cradled her head.

"You win?" Kaomi asked.

"Yeah."

"Then I'm fine. Tired, but fine." Kaomi replied.

"Mission accomplished." Shuyin sighed standing by Lantash.

"Yes. I feel... free now," Lantash replied.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Illarya slowly came to.

"Miss Illarya, what's the last thing you remember?" Serenity asked.

"Umm... Y2K, the ball drop, I was with my friends in Times Square and suddenly... here." She replied.

"Oh, boy." Sevanos sighed, "Do you remember the name Nemesis?"

"No, who are you?" Illarya asked again.

"I'm Sevanos, this is Serenity, and we're part of a group known as the Stars of Destiny. You are missing a few years of memory... What if I told you an essence, a spirit, most likely from ancient Egypt, tried to use your body to take over the world? And that you had formed a group known as the Abyss to help you."

"I'd laugh in your face." She responded.

"We have work to do. We're taking you to our Central Office over in Japan. Is that okay with you?" Sevanos asked.

"Sure. Then can you tell me what the hell is going on?" She looked confused.

"Guys, there's a chopper in this room!" Cid called from just n the other side of a door, "We can use it to get back to the island where the jet is."

"Sounds good Cid." Raven called back.

"Ready to go?" Serenity asked.

"Sure." Illarya struggled to her feet, "Why am I in armor?"

"All in good time, my friend." Sevanos laughed.

Shuyin jumped in the helicopter. "Room for nine plus a pilot. A little convenient."

"Perhaps a reward from the God-King?" Aura smirked, taking her Sword back from Raven.

"Perhaps." Sevanos jumped in the pilot's seat and Serenity jumped in the copilot's seat.

"The... God-King?" Illarya asked.

"Yeah, I know. It sounds plot-heavy to me too." Shuyin smiled, "But Raven and Sevanos gave the God-King of the Primordium a good ol' one-two punch!"

"And what is this thing on my arm?"

"A Duel Disk. You probably don't know the game Duel Monsters, but I would be happy to teach you." Cid offered.

"Okay."

As the helicopter lifted off Raven began to laugh. "The City of Angels at sunset. What a sight."

"Wait, we're in Ls Angeles?" Illarya cocked her head.

"Yes. Err... I'll explain it later." Serenity stretched.

"I love this town!" Raven yelled as the copter soared toward the ocean.


	15. Part IV

Part IV 

Power of the Ancients

Originally called "End Game" because it started off, once again, ending the story. But again, a Part V was demanded. But I decided a Japan Nationals hoisted by the Stars of Destiny giving way to the ultimate battle seemed a good end. But it lent itself to a greater challenge, and a great future for those concerned. So, I changed the name. Here's "Power of the Ancients".


	16. Time to Duel

"Duelists!" a voice not unfamiliar to Raven that of new Star Spokesperson Serenity Tesconé, came across the television, "Are you ready to test your skills?" Images of the duels in the Star Tournament and the battle in Los Angeles aginst the Abyss appeared on the screen, "The Stars of Destiny are calling you out! Duelists all across Japan are entitled to compete! All you need is a deck and Duel Disk, and if you don't have those, we sell them! To register, report to Stars of Destiny Central Headquarters in Sunnydale as soon as possible!" Serenity's voice became more excited as she went on.

"That's their best ad for the Fallen Star Cup?" Kaomi laughed. She wore a white t-shirt with dark blue shorts.

"Well, it is Serenity's work." Raven joked, "Ready?" He wore a black sleeveless shirt and black jeans.

"Yeah." They both stood and exited Raven's house. A black car pulled up with a familiar face behind the wheel.

"Wesley Whyndam-Pryce!" Kaomi smiled.

"Kaomi Itai. Lord Raven Vaniver." Wes smiled, "You know, I plan to put this Duel Disk to use finally."

"So," Raven got in the car, "You still haven't quit?"

"Sevanos wanted to keep me on as Technical Coordinator, and he seems less evil since your big duel with him a few months back." Wes sat in a white coat, blue shirt, and dark pants. "I've upgraded the systems at HQ. I hear tell that you two are finally getting your positions within the organization too."

"Cool!" Kaomi smiled.

"I heard about your trip to America, too." Wes drove along.

"Yeah. Saved the world from tyrannical reign, nothing major." Raven smiled.

"So Sevanos undid the memory thingy too?" Kaomi observed.

"Memory thingy?" Wes sounded confused.

"Yeah, last time you-"Raven stopped her.

"He doesn't seem to remember that, Kaomi..." Raven whispered to her.

"Oh." She nodded.

-O-

Sevanos stood on Floor 25, standard operations, with Alan-Tax, Barbas, and Opaka.

"No answer at the Motou Game Shop?" Sevanos asked.

"It appears the King of Games had urgent business in America." Barbas replied.

"Sure, now he wants to go to America." Sevanos sighed, "What of Shuyin, Aura, and Lantash?"

"It we can't get a response on any of their cell phones." Opaka sat at a terminal designed to act as an elaborate telephone.

"Alan?" Sevanos asked.

"Sorry, the Tomb Keepers are still busy, and Marshal and Colbert haven't been found yet. Good news, though, Cid reports Illarya plans to enter."

"Well thank God for that." Sevanos said sarcastically.

"Don't worry Sevvy-boy!" Ardrea stood in the door, "If ye build it, they will come."

"Ardrea?" Sevanos spun.

"Master Pegasus is... well... away. So I came to my second favorite boss. By the way, Motou and his gang are on Industrial Illusions business, and Pegasus excuses your development of the Iron Star Simulator until his return. With that all said, how might I be of service?"

"Get Serenity, she's in her room on Floor Ten, and have her ready for Raven and Kaomi's induction." Sevanos ordered, "Alan, try to get a hold of people like Lios, Arkith, and those two Magician dolts from Los Angeles. And ask them how repairs are going."

"Aye."

"Opaka, call Kaiba Corporation again, this time ask to speak with either of the brothers Kaiba. Tell them it's a high-profile event and his attendance is strongly requested. Barbas, contact TV Tokyo, get our commercial on more often!" Sevanos ordered.

"Aye." They both nodded.

-O-

"Raven! Kaomi!" Serenity ran up to them Ardrea calmly walked up. They were both dressed in flowing robes.

"Just in time." Ardrea commented. She flipped open her cell phone, "Ready Alan."

"Upgraded projectors on-line. You've got a live feed to Star Stadium in town." Alan replied. Ardrea nodded.

A holographic podium appeared in the lobby, and a holographic audience appeared on the far wall. Serenity approached the podium, "Welcome! I thank you for attending an event so important to us. We recently celebrated massive staff additions, and today's two bring it all to a close. Kaomi Itai, step forward!" Kaomi did. "For courage in the face of danger to yourself and ones you care about, great skill with a deck, and devotion to the cause, you are hereby one of the 108 Stars of Destiny!" Serenity handed Kaomi a mage's robe similar to the one she was in, "Next, the legendary Raven Vaniver!" Kaomi stepped aside. "For devotion, dueling prowess, risking yourself for the one you care most about countless times, and saving the world, so to speak, you are hereby inducted into the ranks of the 108 Stars of Destiny!" She handed him a robe.

Raven and Kaomi looked gracious, but confused.

"Sorry for being so brief, but that concludes today's announcement." Serenity bowed and dragged Kaomi and Raven off. The holograms vanished.

"What the crap?" Raven finally said after a moment of uneasy silence.

"Just a bit of public relations." Serenity walked over to the elevator, "C'mon. I'm sure Sevanos wants to see you both before the tournament tomorrow."

"Right." Raven nodded.

-O-

"Raven!" Sevanos smiled, "How have you been?"

"It's only been a month, Sevanos. You sound cheery." Raven smiled.

"I'm just relieved to find business as usual this past month. No Nemesis, no Seros, no God-Kings, no Seraph. I like it! I daresay, we may end this summer with normal operations!" Sevanos smiled.

"Don't jinx it, Sevvy-boy." Ardrea grinned.

"Everyone seems so happy around here." Kaomi observed, "It's amazing to think that just weeks ago we expected to never see home again. I mean, look at you!"

"Yeah, well..." Sevanos' smile widened, "At any rate, your rooms are prepared, I have a lot of PR to do. The tournament is tomorrow!"

"Right. See you tomorrow." Raven and Kaomi left. Ardrea stood for a moment, and then followed.

-O-

"Sevanos, mind if I ask why this is so important to you?" Opaka sighed.

"One word: Kaya." Sevanos said, impassively.

"Kaya? The Kaya?" Alan spun from his computer.

"Yeah. This is her first big tournament, and the first time I've seen her in years. I want it to be memorable." Sevanos replied.

"Who is Kaya, anyway?" Opaka asked.

"Kaya Theas, Sevanos'..." Alan trailed off.

"Former fiancée." Sevanos finished Alan's statement,

"Oh? What happened?" Opaka asked.

"Suffice it to say, Kaya didn't want to be part of what the Stars stood for back then." Alan explained.

"Which was?" Opaka asked.

-O-

"Welcome ladies, gentlemen, and duelists!" Sevanos stood in the center of a stadium, but was being broadcasted citywide, to be replayed later nationally. "Over a hundred and fifty years ago, my family founded a secret society bent on controlling the political agendas of America, China, England, and Japan, in an attempt to control the major powers of Earth. This agenda was the basis for my great-grandfather's Stars of Destiny. One hundred and eight men banded together to dominate. As you'd expect, unsuccessfully. Their brief spurt of power faded, and my father's generation was nothing more than 108 sad, angry, and delusional men. When I inherited a seat of power, my entire old life left me for fear of what I might become, knowing the caliber of men driven mad by the Stars of Destiny. But I was not afraid. I dismissed all of the other 107, and from the ground up I built this organization, maybe a little to obsessed with Duel Monsters, but at least it isn't global domination." He laughed, "And now, we begin our first public duel tournament, the Fallen Star Cup!" Cheers rose. As the crowd quieted, Sevanos decided to take the chance to plug his products, "I take this time to announce that aside from the merchandise Industrial Illusions has authorized us to make, an Industrial Illusions rep and member of my Central Office staff has informed me of the final authorization for our Project Iron Star. The IS will be a virtual reality devise much like Kaiba Corps rumored VirtuaPod and the Kingdom, an equally rumored device by a failed corporation. Where others have given only hushed words and failures, we will give you results!" Another cheer rose, "Without further ado, I hereby announce that in just fifteen minutes, the first ever Fallen Star Tournament will begin!" Fireworks shot off behind him as he stepped off the stage. Alan and Barbas met him.

"Great speech, sir!" Barbas bowed.

"It was nothing. Just a little crowd-pumping exercise. Alan, raise the stage, Barbas, head to home base and get things ready with Opaka." Sevanos smiled.

Another person approached him. Her hair was long and beautifully brown. She wore a blue outfit cut to show plenty of skin. She had beauty, and flaunted it readily.

"Kaya." Sevanos smiled.

"Sev. How you been?" she asked, smiling.

"Not so bad. Yourself?" Sevanos returned the smile.

"Great. It's been a while."

"Three years."

"I'm glad to see good things come from your family, Sevanos. This Stars thing destroyed it, and now..."

"All for the hopes that you'd forgive me."

"For what? I had so little faith in you... I should apologize."

"So, we're okay now?"

"Yeah." Kaya gave Sevanos a quick hug, "Don't you have duels to get to?"

-O-

"Illarya!" Raven walked up to Illarya, who stood in a red jacket, white shirt, and black jeans.

"Raven! How are you! You look well!" Illarya grinned.

"Well, I'm not being hunted by a maniac right now, so I'm better than I've been since Battle City." Raven laughed, "But bygones are bygones."

Illarya nodded.

"Innocently, you look really good without battle armor... or blue hair... or any of that Yami Illarya stuff that made you used to look creepy. That was poorly said, but it was a compliment."

Illarya laughed, "Thanks Raven."


	17. The Games Begin

"Virtual systems ready." Opaka reported.

"Activate holographic projectors and uplink duel disks into central computer." Barbas ordered

"Projectors on, uplink engaged." She replied.

"Set Life Point counters to 4000."

"Set."

"Cameras on; raise lights."

-O-

Alan entered the center of the arena stage as lights rose. "Now, I direct your attention to the stage and the first match-up. Enter the mighty Dragon Handler, Cidofolos Orlandu!" Alan called as Cid entered the elevated circular arena in the center of the stadium and assumed his position. "And the opponent, arguably the most brilliant man to ever construct a Duel Disk out of toothpicks, wax paper, and marshmallows, Wesley Whyndam-Pryce!" Wesley entered the other side of the arena, "Duel!" Alan called.

Cid's Duel Disk launched and fused, as it always had. "Let's go, techie."

"Let's, Dragon." The silver semi-sphere on Wes' arm began to open and unfold into a card platform. A Life Point counter jetted out of the top. Wes grabbed a small eyepiece folded on the underside of his disk and placed it over his right eye. "Ready for this?"

"As I'll ever be." Cid smirked, "I summon my Luster Dragon and set one card face-down."

Wes read the data presented by his eyepiece. A small circle targeted the Dragon. Text appeared below it listing it's description, and present ATK and DEF factors.

"Not bad, Orlandu. Set three cards face-down and play my Cyber Falcon!" A great mechanical bird flew onto the field. "Your move."

"It's a risk I'll take. Summon Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1! Luster, show no mercy!" Cid ordered. The flames of the Luster Dragon flew at Wes.

The small white circle locked on to the Winged dragon, but Wes ignored it. "How could you not see that was a trap? Cyber Falcon, activate Draining Shield!" A panel on the Falcon opened and a small ring shot toward the fire. The ring shot green light back behind it as the fire crashed into it. Then a small ray hit Wes, raising his Life Points to 5900. "My turn now." Wes drew, "Sacrifice the Falcon for my Metal Fish in defensive position."

"Offer Winged Dragon and Luster Dragon!" Cid called as the two dragons flew to his side, "To summon the legendary Red Eyes Black Dragon!" The great black dragon landed in front of Cid.

"Red Eyes?" Wes stepped back as the circle locked on to the Red Eyes.

"Yeah. Mop the floor with that tin can!" Cid ordered. A fireball crashed into the Metal Fish, destroying it.

"My move!" Wes drew. "Reveal the two face-down spells, Soul Exchange and Tribute Doll, offering Red Eyes for a monster far worse. The feared Barrel Dragon. I think you've seen its power, used by Mister Vaniver."

Cid clenched his fist, "This has only just begun, Wesley!"

"Talk big, Orlandu. I end my turn."

"Draw!" Cid was truly ticked off, "I activate Monster Reborn! Red Eyes, return to me! Now here goes my Polymerization! This combines my Red Eyes with my Meteor Dragon!" A large rock with arms, legs, and wings appeared on the field, "You know what comes next, techno-punk? They combine to from the Meteor Black Dragon!" The dragons combined. The Red Eyes grew larger, fiery red veins visible all over it. It looked a little rocky, and downright menacing. It's attack power, 3500. "This game is mine. Now my dragon, Meteor Breath!" A large flaming rock shot from the Dragon's mouth and demolished the Barrel Dragon.

"My move!" Wes' Life Points fell to 4800 as his eyepiece locked on to the Meteor Dragon, "And I still have the lead you know! I'll play Polymerization too, fusing my Cannon Solder and Giga Tech Wolf to summon my Labyrinth Tank in defense mode and summon Gear Golem in defense mode as well. Go."

"Meteor Breath!" The Gear Golem fell apart. "Set one card and end." Cid smiled.

"I'm going to come back, Cid. But I'm bound right now." Wes sighed.

"Meteor Breath!"

"My move!" Wes smiled, "It's a start. Set two cards and end my turn."

"Now, fire off a meteor at Wes!" Cid ordered. A meteor shot off, but fizzled out of existence.

"Sorry, Orlandu, reveal Negate Attack!" Wes sighed with relief. "My move!" he drew dramatically, "Blast! I might need to pass this turn! I do..."

"Meteor Breath!" This meteor bound for Wes did not fade.

Wes' eyepiece locked onto the meteor, and a the screen filled with the red flashing word 'Warning'. The flaming rock knocked Wes on his back. Wes staggered to his feet, Life Points at 1300. He drew, "You're done." Wes smiled.

"You're not in much of a place to make threats." Cid laughed.

"On the contrary, Cid. Monster Reborn! This gives me your Red Eyes. And I'll set one more card to complete my turn."

"Your head is so big you odiously can't here that tiny voice of reason in it." Cid threw two cards face-down, "Meteor Black Dragon, OBLITERATE!"

"Nice try, Dragon Handler, but it isn't happening! Activate Metalmorph!"

"So? Red Eyes still isn't strong enough?" Cid watched the Red Eyes coar itself with metal, "Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon's attack factor is only 2800. Mine's 3500."

"That's what this one's for, Mirror Force!" Wes laughed as the meteor, only inches from the Metal Dragon, spun bound for its launcher. The meteor hit the Meteor Dragon, destroying it. "And now, on my turn I play another Tribute Doll, summoning Machine King! Metal Dragon, attack!"

Cid braced himself against the attack, his Life Points down to 1200. He drew, "A valiant effort, Wesley." He smiled, "Reveal Dark Hole, consuming your monsters! Then I play the card I drew, Premature Burial. By reducing myself to 400 Life Points, I return my Meteor Black Dragon to the field!" The giant dragon flew back to the field, "OBLITERATE!" The meteor hit Wesley, knocking him down again.

"And the winner!" Alan ran over to Cid and raised Cid's arm in the air, "Cidofolos Orlandu! But don't worry Wes, there's a few Wild Card Slots coming up later."

-O-

"Up for the next match, is the former God-King of the Primordium, Illarya Eden, versus the dueling unpredictability known as Kaya Theas." Alan called, "Duel!"

The two women launched their Duel Disks.

"So, you're that psycho Sev told me about?" Kaya drew.

"Not exactly," Illarya drew her hand as well.

"Doesn't matter." Kaya set a card face down, "Come forth my Kiser Seahorse!"

"Summon Vorse Raider! Vorse, attack!" Illarya ordered.

"Negate Attack!" Kaya smiled, "Nice try. Stupid girl."

"Do you mock me?" Illarya looked at her Duel Disk, "Perhaps I should not have told Cid I was ready for this..."

"Hey!" Cid screamed from the sidelines, "Once you start thinking of your own defeat, you've lost! You can do it!"

"Touching. Really." Kaya drew, "Too bad she's right. Offer Kiser for my Wingweiver!"

"You'll pull through, Illarya!" Raven cheered.

"No she won't!" Sevanos cheered right next to him.

"Wingweiver, attack!" The six-winged massager shot a beam of light at the beastly solder on Illarya's field.

Illarya drew as her counter dropped to 3150. "Summon Double Caston and set one card face-down."

"You think I'll fall into my own trap? I play Mystical Space Typhoon-"

"Activate trap Wabaku!" Illarya smiled, "I know you won't fall into your own trap, so I set you a different one."

"Turn end." Kaya threw a card face-down.

"Sacrifice my monster for the great Cosmo Queen!" A regal woman of the cosmos appeared before Illarya, "Sorry. Queen, Cosmic Blast!"

"Draw!" her Life Points fell to 3750, "Defend."

"Cosmo, attack!" Illarya ordered, "I set a monster in defense mode."

"So do I." Kaya ended her turn.

"Cosmo, hit it." Illarya shrugged, "Another trap set. Go."

"Summon Rocket Warrior and set two cards. Rocket Warrior, go for the face-down monster!" A small rocket flew at the defensive monster, only to be deflecte3d.

"Gear Golem, the Moving Fortress. That's 700 more damage." Ilarya smiled.

"Nope!" Kaya laughed, "Rocket Warrior takes no damage. Now, I complete my turn."

"Cosmo Queen, attack!"

"Reveal trap Magic Arm-Shield! This takes your Gear Golem to block your attack!" A hand grabbed the Golem and moved it into the way of the Queen's blast. "My move," Kaya drew, "Sacrifice for my Beast of Gilfer in defense mode. Another face down card, and my turn is done."

"Cosmo, attack." Illarya sounded bored.

"Reveal trap card, Call of the Haunted! This returns my, now a little undead, Wingweiver. And, since you destroyed Gilfer, he comes back with a vengeance!" The Beast of Gilfer flew under the Winged Messenger, raising its attack by 500, "Now it's my move. Wingweiver, Holy Gilfer Flame!" A beam of light surrounded by fire tore through the Cosmo Queen.

"Activate trap, Destiny Board!" A large Ouija Board appeared above Illarya, and above it, a ghost heald the letter F.

"Destiny Board?"

"The Ouija Board of Death. There are five Spirit Messages, F, I, N, A, and L."

"Final?" Kaya cocked her head.

"Played in order, FINAL is the countdown to just that, your final turn." Illarya laughed, "Let the fun begin!" Her Life Points fell to 2800, "Now that your turn is done, I beseech the spirits to bring their next message!" The letter I appeared above Illarya, "Hey, looks like they listened. Well, now that it's my move and I have Message L in my hand, perhaps I should play this, Reload!" Illarys slid her hand into her deck and drew a new one, "Scapegoat!" Four sheep-goats appeared before her, "Go."

"Attack the blue scapegoat!" Kaya ordered as she considered her options.

The letter N appeared above Illarya, "Set one monster and complete my turn."

"Summon Shining Angel. My angels will take out two more Scapegoats."

"Then I've won," Illarya smiled as A appeared above her, "at the end of your next turn." She drew, "Reveal my monster, Old Vindictive Magician." The aged caster shot a beam of energy at the Winged Messenger, sending it to the Graveyard. "And sacrifice it for this monster in defense mode. Go."

"Take out the final Scapegoat." Kaya sighed.

L appeared above Illarya. Spirits surrounded the field. They formed into one great creature, which attacked Kaya.

"The winner, Illarya Eden!" Alan raised her hand.

-O-

"Match sixteen, the last match for this evening, the legendary beauty Kaomi Itai versus the perpetual thorn in her side, as if by some odd force of fate or uncreative writing, Arkith Panzer." Cheers rose as the duelists took their positions against he darkening sky. Floodlights blinked on. "Duel!"

"You need to just give up, Panzer." Kaomi launched her Duel Disk.

"What if you gave up back at the American Nationals? Remember joining with your American cousin? Remember being totally demolished at my hand? What if you quit?" Arkith responded, alunching his Duel Disk, "Set two cards face-down and summon Kycoo, the Ghost Destroyer!"

"I'll set two cards and summon my Humanoid Slime in defense mode!" The human-form aquatic creature defended itself.

"I'll set another card, play Rush Recklessly, and activate this spell, Final Countdown!" Twenty fireballs flew into the sky, "Kycoo, Reckless Exorcism" Beams of light shot at the Slime.

"Reveal Mirror Wall!" A wall rose before the beams, weakening them. They crashed harmlessly against the Slime.

Arkith's Life Points fell to 3250. "Turn end." One of the small fiery markers faded.

"Mirror Wall extinguishes, and I sacrifice my slime for my Ryu Kokki! Kokki, attack and destroy Kycoo!" Kaomi orderd, "Yo0u aren't gonna make it nineteen more turns, boyo."

"I disagree, reveal Rope of Life!" A rope stretched into the dark abyss and pulled Kycoo out of the nothingness, with an attack of 2600, while Arkith's Life Points fell to 2650.

"Doesn't matter, Kokki will instantly toast it anyway." Kaomi shrugged. A fireball faded.

"If I keep Kycoo. Activate Snatch Steal, taking your monster and offering both as well as my Tribute Doll for my greatest monster!" Arkith rose a card into the air, "Come forth, my mighty Moisture Creature!" A watery creature swept Kaomi's field clean, "And thanks to my Pyro Clock of Destiny card I cut two from the eighteen turns left for Final Countdown, and my creature is free to attack your Life Points directly! Then I play the Red Medicine spell card, raising my Life Points to 3150!" Red sparkles surrounded him.

Kaomi drew, her Life Points at 1200, with fifteen turns on the clock. She needed a miracle. She did not look at her newly drawn card.

"Perhaps my not quitting is paying off, Itai. I do enjoy watching you struggle!"

"C'mon Kaomi!" Sevanos called, "Send this creep back to L.A., where he belongs!"

"Right." Kaomi added the card to her hand, "Time for you to get the hell outta my country, Panzer! Summon Copycat!" An odd creature with a mirror appeared on Kaomi's field. After a mere moment, the image of the Moisture Creature was burned into the mirror. "Not activate the spell card Giant Trunade and the other spell Riryoku!" The Copycat's attack shot from zero to 2800, then it shot up 1400 more to come to a stop at 3200. "Fry that freak's creature!" From the Copycat's mirror the Moisture Creature attacked. The real creature faded to nothingness and a heavy toll was shot at Arkith's Life Points. The crowd roared. "Set one card and end my turn." Kaomi said coolly.

Arkith's Life Points were a mere 350. "Draw!" he glared upward. Fourteen. That would be of no help. "I defend and complete my turn."

"Activate Soul Exchange, offering your monster and mine for Seiyaryu, then play, get this, Pyro Clock of Destiny!" Two fires faded.

"Idiot!"

"Not really. Seiyaryu can attack now." Kaomi drew her hand back, "Mystic Flame, obliterate!" Kaomi shot her hand forward. The crowd went wild.

"The winner, Kaomi Itai!" Alan called over the cheers, "We will complete the first phase tomorrow morning at eight. See you all then!"

-O-

Raven watched the people leave. The seemed so excited. So energized. They talked of their favorite duelists. Raven looked over to Kaomi, who had several kids talking to her.

"You're awesome!" one of the young boys said.

"Seiyaryu is my favorite too!" another said.

"Will you autograph my Seiyaryu." A girl said. This request seemed awkward to Raven, but he supposed it made sense on some level. Kaomi was only too happy to oblige.

"Will you marry me?" Some creepy guy approached them. This was Raven's cue. Raven walked up behind the creepy guy, not noticed by him, and beat him with his Duel Disk. The creepy man fell unconscious.

"Thanks, Raven." Kaomi laughed, "Bye kids! If that creepy guy wakes up, just do what Raven did."

The kids then started talking of Raven.

"A little hero worship?" Raven smiled.

"Cute kids." Kaomi smiled as well, "I bet that girl's mom sells the Seiyaryu on eBay. Five dollars."

"A hundred." Raven laughed. "I just wonder if the Duel Disk System will render an autographed card differently." Raven laughed more.

"Oh, Raven. Things are so happy now." She rested her head on his shoulder. "Has that Egyptian guy come back for the Scale?"

"Not yet. It's in my room at Stars HQ." Ravens responded.

"Raven."

"Yeah?"

"I love you." Kaomi said

"I love you too." Raven smiled.

-O-

Kaomi knocked on Raven's door. "Raven? I know it's late, but I can't sleep. I'm worried." There was silence, "Raven?"

-O-

Raven stood on the roof staring at the moon, the Millennium Scale in his hand.

"Raven!" Kaomi sighed with relief; "I was worried when you weren't in your room. So I searched and didn't see you anywhere... what are you doing on the roof at three in the morning anyway?"

"I have a bad sense about things. I think these happy times are in danger." Raven did not shift his gaze, "Aura, Lantash, and Shuyin went to Cairo Branch because the said they found something that no one could translate. It looked ancient Egyptian, but a dialect they had never seen. The three of them went there to examine it and bring it back here. They'll be here tomorrow morning."

"How do you know all this?" Kaomi asked.

"Visions induced by the Scale."

"Dreams?" Kaomi suggested.

"No. I was awake."

"Maybe you're right, Raven." Kaomi sighed and walked up next to him, staring at the moon with him, "I have an ominous sense about the end of this tournament. Something bad is going to happen. We should pull out of it now."

"Kaomi!" Raven was shocked, and looked at her.

"I mean it Raven. You've slayed enough demons!" Kaomi said, almost in tears, her glance rapidly shifted to meet his, "Like I said. I love you. I can't risk loosing you anymore!"

"Kaomi, the demons I've slayed both turned out to be fine people. Besides, I want to know why I 'slayed those demons'. And I want to know about Nemesis." Raven embraced her.

"Nemesis is the ranting of a madman. No more." Tears formed in Kaomi's eyes.

"You felt its presence. I saw its opposite." Raven said, calmly.

"You say a hallucination caused by that damn scale!" She burst into full-blown tears.

"Kaomi. This is bigger than us."

"Nothing is bigger than us." Kaomi sobbed. "I won't lose you!"

"That's right. And I won't lose you." Raven closed his eyes, "I promise."

"Raven, what do you think this artifact will tell you?" Kaomi dried her eyes on his sleeve.

"The truth about the events in Ancient Egypt, whatever that is." Raven sighed, "Sevanos' version of events is incomplete, I know that. And I know Seros is a chronic and habitual. But, to quote an American TV show, 'The truth is out there', an I aim to find it."

"Be careful. I fear that this time the danger is much more clear and present." Kaomi choked back more tears, "Don't do anything stupid."

"I won't."


	18. Ancient Power

"Good morning!" Alan greeted the crowd, "This morning's first duel will be the man behind all this, the mighty Sevanos, versus the man with Exodia's master set, Seeker!" The men entered the elevated ring.

"Let's see how you do, Seeker." Sevanos smiled.

"Well." Seeker drew and smiled.

"I'll have you know that I just added a few little bonuses to my deck because of you." Sevanos grinned, "I'll make my move. I summon my Monkey Monkey in defense mode and set these two cards face-down. Go." A small square with wings appeared before Sevanos.

"I play Sangan in defense mode and set two cards. I now play Graceful Charity!"

"Mystical Refpanel!" Sevanos drew three cards, "Discard Guardian Angel Joan and Heavy Storm."

"Go."

"Summon my Hysteric Fairy. Fairy, attack!"

"Jar of Greed!"

"Fine." As Sangan exploded, Seeker drew, "And now I get the left arm of Exodia from my deck and add it to my hand."

"You're done, Seeker." Sevanos smiled, "I guess all you need is one of Exodia's limbs right now, so I'll hit ya hard and fast. First, destroy your deck with the card D. D. Designator! L:eft Arm of the Forbidden One!" An elf aimed it's sword at Seeker's hand, knocking the Arm into play, then shattering it., "Now, I play Monster Reborn, bring Joanie back. Joanie and H. Fairy attack directly. For a grand total today of..." The two blasts hit Seeker, "4600 points of damage, giving you 600 extra points of damage. See ya, Exodia-boy." Sevanos walked off before Alan could raise his arm in victory. He then glanced at Serenity, "Top that."

"Sevanos Otaga, the winner!" Alan called from the stage.

-O-

Barbas watched from the ops room on a large television screen. Opaka came in with two cups of coffee.

"Sev roasted the Exodia duelist."

"Well, yeah."

"Hey!" A third, male, vice rang in the room, "Can we switch it to Comic Party? Episode thirteen is on!"

"Shuyin?" Barbas nearly spit out his coffee as he spun in his chair, "What did Cairo Branch want?"

"Something about this," he pulled out a large flat piece of rock, "This. Aura and Lantash couldn't make heads or tails of it, so the Cairo bigwigs wanted Sevvy to look at it."

"I'll go put it in his office." Barbas took the artifact.

"That looks like the same type or tablet as the Ancient's Star device." Opaka observed, "The Repository of the Ancients."

"The Ancient's Star was missing a piece by the control mechanism." Barbas looked at it, "I'll be back."

-O-

Barbas stood in an elevator bound for basement floor ten, the deepest and most guarded floor. In order tro be confirmed to go there, a key must be inserted into the elevator. The doors slid apart revealing a careened corridor with a metal door at the end marked "Do Not Enter". Barbas then swiped a keycard. The door opened revealing a white, well-lit room. In this room the computer would scan him for anything dangerous, and to match him to one with a high clearance code. Then, another door, marked "Classified" opened. He entered. This revealed another corridor. He walked down to Room 34, marked "Ancient's Star" He used his keycard again to grant him access to this room. He approached a pedestal in the center of the room, on which a large stone box was sitting. There was a small panel jetting out from one side with a series of three levers on it. All three were locked. Above this panel, an area had been chipped off. "The Repository." Barbas placed the last piece on the puzzle and the device glowed briefly, but the glow faded. The levers were still locked. "Worth a shot." Barbas walked out.

-O-

At the tournament site, a call came through backstage. Sevanos answered, "Yes?"

"Sevanos, Shuyin, Lantash, and Aura are here. They brought us the last price of the AS Device."

"On my way." Sevanos hung up and face Raven, "We'll rig it so you're up next. We're needed at HQ."

"We?"

"You have a Millennium Item, and our situation is distinctly Ancient Egyptian." Sevanos explained.

Raven shot Kaomi a glance and nodded, "Right."

-O-

"Next up! The man, the myth, the legend, Raven Vaniver!" The crowd roared as Raven entered "Versus the big-talker of the Stars, Serenity Tesconé!"

"Let's go, L.A. girl!" Raven launched his Duel Disk.

"Someone has a superiority complex." Serenity launched hers, "I summon my Cyber Harpie!" A Harpie in cyber-armor flew to the field, "And play the spell Elegant Egotist! Your card, Raven." She taunted, "This brinds forth my Harpie Lady Sisters!"

"My move!" Raven drew, "Go forth and serve, Forgiving Maiden!" The Maiden arose, defending herself. "And I'll play these three cards face-down."

"I play Vampire Lady in attack mode. End my turn." Serenity did as she said.

"Time to play Fusion Sage, acquiring my Polymerization and activating it. Here's a feminine monster I don't see you using, Serenity!" Forgiving Maiden dissolved to be replaced by an angelic redhead in battle armor. "Destroy the Vampire Lady!"

Serenity drew as her Life Points fell to 2450. "Maybe not that exact one, Vaniver." She laughed, "Offer my Harpies to summon the Guardian Angel Joan!"

"Since when does everyone have that card!" Raven yelled in frustration.

"Go." She set four cards face-down.

"I set a monster and another card and end my turn." Raven gritted his teeth.

"Joan, attack!" Serenity ordered.

"Sorry, Tesconé, but this field is only big enough for one Joan! Reveal my Witch Doctor of Chaos!" The Guardian's blast destroyed the Witch Doctor, which shot a counterattack at the Guardian.

"Activate Interdimensional Matter Transporter!" Serenity called.

"Blast." The counterattack shot into nothingness, "That's it. My move!" Raven drew, "Time to see who is better prepared. Activate the Spell card Tribute to the Doomed!"

"Activate Magic Jammer!" Serenity responded.

"Plan B, activate Ring of Destruction!" Raven called as a ring of bombs appeared around the Guardian's neck.

"Activate Fairy's Hand Mirror!" The Ring glistened in the mirror, than flew at the Saint Joan.

"Activate Card Guard!" A shield of cards appeared before the Saint Joan, blocking the Ring, causing it to fade into nothingness.

"That's it!" Serenity clenched her fists.

"Enough of this!"

"Joan, attack!" Both ordered. The two angels shot streams of light at one another, both shattering. The crowd gasped. "Activate spell card!" both called, "Monster Reborn!" The two Joans reappeared. The crowd roared.

"Stalemate," Serenity said, a little annoyed.

"I refuse to accept that."

"Raven, is your heart in this duel?"

"What?"

"Cause I'll put mine in it if you will."

"Come again?"

"Raven Vaniver, may the Heart of the Cards guide you to victory." Serenity drew, "Offer Guardian Angel Joan for the Dark Magician Girl. Go Raven."

"Acivate Tribute Doll, and offer the Saint Joan for the Tyrant Dragon." Raven closed his eyes, "Perhaps I'll understand this someday."

"Hopefully." Serenity passed her turn; "I stand strong, with no moves left."

"By your reference, checkmate." Tyrant Dragon shot a fireball at the Magician Girl, incinerating her.

-O-

"Interesting victory." Sevanos drove at highly unsafe speeds through the town.

"She just gave up."

"Raven, sometimes you can learn from victories. You know why she summoned the Dark Magician Girl?"

"Heart of the Cards?"

"Exactly. If you don't base your choices on that, you dishonor the game."

-O-

Sevanos, Raven, and Barbas stood in the presence of the ancient device.

"Raven, see how the Scale reacts to it." Sevanos ordered.

Raven pulled out the Millennium Scale, and aimed it's all-seeing Eye of Anubis at the device. The item and device lit aglow.

"Go pull the switches!" Barbas called.

"Hey!" Raven spun, "I can read this text!"

"What?" Sevanos ran up next to him. The text was still in the illegible Egyptian dialect.

"I can read it. It says 'The unabridged knowledge of our ways is here, for whomsoever holds a regal sign from the Pharaoh's court. Simply activate the device.' I think it means the levers."

"You know what this means, Raven? Shadow powers! The knowledge of the Pharaoh himself is at your fingertips!"

Raven pulled the first lever, the Scales sitting on the panel. The light in the room grew more intense. He pulled the second lever. All the words and drawings on the device shot a great golden light from them, and he pulled the third, filling the room with a blinding light.

-O-

The sands blew around Raven, but not Raven, and Seto Kaiba, but not Kaiba. The both wore off outfits, and Raven seemed little more than an observer.. He heard himself saying words, but he did not mean to. He was not in control.

"High Priest Set, I tell you again, I will not turn myself against the Pharaoh." Raven said.

"Oh, Tiamat, old friend, it is for the betterment of Egypt! The will of the Gods!" Seto replied.

"If it were, why were you not deemed Pharaoh? No, things will not change. I won't let them." Raven walked away.

"The day of reckoning is coming, Mage!" Seto called after him, but Raven shrugged it off.

-O-

Raven's real body lie on the floor. The Scales shined brilliantly in tune with the device, and an Eye of Anubis glistened on Raven's forehead.

"Get him to the medical section." Sevanos ordered.

Barbas flipped open his cell phone, "Medical emergency in Classified Section, Room 341"

-O-

"Next match, the master of Toons, and the apprentice of the game's creator, Ardrea Amun, versus the, well, versus Shuyin Beolve!"Alan called, "Duel!"

-O-

"We shall duel!" Raven said, the sands circled them.

"Pharaoh's servant. We will. Just not now." Sevanos, or Seros as the case had it, drifted wawy.

-O-

"Summon Toon Gemini Elf!" Ardrea called.

"My move!" Shuyin drew, winked at the crowd, and threw a monster in defense mode.

-O-

"So, here we are, Servant." Seros laughed as sand swirled about them in the dark night.

"Yes. Our armies have destroyed one another, and so it comes down to us!" Raven, or Tiamat, replied.

"Realm of shadows, in this twilight hour, accept their souls and grant me power!" Both chanted reportedly. Darkness swirled with the sand.

"A great power is unlocked by this consumption of souls, Tiamat." Seros explained, "Watch!" Seros began to glow as he transformed into an angel, "The power to destroy all of Egypt by becoming a Shadow Creature!"

"Never will I let you!" Tiamat shimmered red, as he became the great red dragon. "This ends now!"

The great monsters clashed, Tiamat shooting fireballs, dodging beams of light. The great shadow energy blanketed Egypt.

"Dragon, do you see that you cannot defeat me?" the angelic Seros smiled.

"Angel, I will not let you pass!" Tiamat flew at Seros head-on. A great light crossed the country.

-O-

The next thing Raven knew he was running toward something. Men chased him firing arrows, which he dodged. What was he after? Who was after him?

"Leon Vaniver!" one of the men in pursuit of him called.

Leon was Raven's ancestor from 1600s Europe. What was going on? Was all this the work of the Ancient's Star device? If so, what did this have to do with Egypt?

"Leon!" He heard a voice ahead of him. It was Kaomi's.

"Anne!" he called.

"Fire!" Called one of the men behind him. An arrow shot forward. It missed Leon, but hit Anne.

Leon stopped at Anne's side. "Anne!"

"Take care of Kayla." Anne coughed, "And let my husband know how much I hated him."

"I will."

"What are you waiting for, Leon? Get to Stonehenge!" Anne passed.

Leon drew his sword. Those bastards would pay for taking his friend! No. He had a mission. He ran faster, more determination drove him. He came to a stop at Stonehenge, specifically an alter at the center of Stonehenge. He took the Millennium Scale from his pack, "Realm of shadows, defend me!"

A great Tyrant Dragon appeared above Stonehenge. It shot it's flames down upon the army chasing Leon.

"Run! Report the loss to Master Otaga!" One of the solders, a high-ranking one, called.

"God." Leon glanced over his shoulder than back at the Scale, "Realm of Shadows, pass your judgment upon me. If I be worthy, grant me what I desire! Pass judgment on myself and the demon Otaga!"

Two hearts appeared on the scale. The scale tipped, and the hearts faded. Then, the great pillars of Stonehenge lit aglow, and a voice rang. "You cannot!" the voice called, "In this sacred ground, I speak to you. It is not your fate to kill Otaga, for your and his descendants will stand against myself and he who twists your fate. But I see how my opposite has ruined your existence. Allow me to fix everything."

A short distance away, the corpse of Anne healed itself and returned to life.

"And I will clean this slate!" A great light swept all of England, as those who knew of the events of the Vaniver-Otaga feud forgot either party existed.

-O-

"The winner!" Alan rose the hand of Ardrea Amun, "Ardrea! Like no one saw that coming!"

-O-

"How is he?" Sevanos asked Dr. Ezulu.

"Still unconscious, but look at this." Ezulu pulled out two brain scans, "This," He pointed to the first. Fairly uncluttered and clear, "Is a normal brain scan. This is Raven's," He pointed to one far more active, "An average human uses about ten percent of their brain, one using Shadow Powers uses about fifteen. Raven is using thirty."

"So?" Sevanos failed to get it.

"Well, I am not sure... I just know he's using three times his normal brain capacity." Ezulu explained.

"Call my office when he wakes." Sevanos left.

-O-

Raven now stood in a wood. At least, he sopposed he was himself. He had a Duel Disk, and was playing aginst someone in a white cloak.

"I sacrifice my monsters for the Tyrant Dragon!" he called.

"Raven, what are you doing here? Is this how your comfortable?" The voice, the same as Leon heard at Stonehenge, came from the cloaked man.

"Who are you?" Raven asked. As if to answer, the world around him melted away and he found himself floating in space.

The white-cloaked figure was replaced by a white cloud. "Seraph".

"And this world? These time shifts?" Raven asked.

"What the Repository thought you should know." Seraph replied.

"No ancient magics, no big important message?"

"Why do you think I'm here, Raven? You know your history. You know of myself and Nemesis, and you know your tie to the Tyrannical Dragon. Sadly, the things you seek are not here, but the things you must know are."

-O-

Sevanos ran into Ezulu's office, "What is it?"

"Remember those brain scans? Look at this." Ezulu pointed to an active image on his computer screen, "His brain activity just spiked a moment ago to almost ninety percent usage. I had him placed in solitary confinement for observation once he awoke. Look at this." The image on the monitor switched to a live feed of Raven. He was speaking in seeming gibberish, and writing on the wall with a red marker the same dialect found on the Ancient Repository. "All I've been able to make out are several calls for Kaomi."

Sevanos picked up the phone, dialed quickly, and spoke, "Barbas, get Kaomi over here. Send her to Doctor Ezulu's office.


	19. Of the Essence

"Phase Two of the tournament begins tomorrow!" Alan called, "The first match-up will be Illarya Eden versus Mr. Takahashi. The following people are getting passed without Phase Two duels: Sevanos Otaga, Raven Vaniver, Kaomi Itai, and Cid Oulandu, due to a sudden illness fallen by Mr. Vaniver." The crow chattered and gasped.

-O-

"He's been like this for hours." Ezulu reported to Kaomi and Cid.

"Will he come out of it?" Cid asked.

"No way of knowing. Given what Raven translated on the Device in the basement, Wesley has run a translation of what he wrote, but we don't have a lot. Miss Itai, your name appears quite a bit in his speech, both normally and in this Egyptian tongue he's speaking. Also this symbol, "One was enlarged, "'Contest' or 'duel' appears often. As well as these one for Light and Darkness, and several ones that struck me, this chain appears to be three numbers."

"What are they?" Sevanos asked.

"12, 22, and 2012." Ezulu responded.

"December 22, 2012?" Kaomi raised an eyebrow.

"I'll have Barbas Google it." Sevanos left.

"Raven..." Kaomi sighed, "I want to got talk to him."

Ezulu nodded.

-O-

"Raven." Kaomi entered the white room whose smooth walls were coated in red ink.

"Kaomi." The door seemed to close itself, though it was Raven's work.

"What's going on?"

"What..." Raven fell to the floor, the Eye of Anubis finally fading.

"Dr. Ezulu!" Ezulu received a call on his Nextel, "Raven's brain activity scans are returning to normal."

"Kaomi." Raven barely uttered.

-O-

"Raven?" When he awoke, Kaomi stood over him, "Do you remember anything?"

"I remember activating the Repository, and then hearing your voice and now being here." Raven held his head, "What hit me."

"About five thousand years of knowledge. Here." Sevanos handed Raven the Scale, Tell me if you can read this." Sevanos then showed Raven photographs of the scribbling on the wall.

"No..."

"Believe it or not, you wrote it." Dr. Ezulu entered the room, "You were at over nine times the normal brain usage. No wonder you forgot everything. Odds are you took something away from it, thought."

"December 22, 2012." Raven said quietly, "That date seems important to me."

"You wrote it several times. We were able to translate that because it was in a more standard dialect." Cid explained.

"What does it mean?" Kaomi asked.

"Couldn't tell you." Raven sighed.

"Do you know if you found the answers you wanted?" Kaomi asked.

"I know I didn't." Raven sighed. "Even if I did, I would have forgot them all anyway."

"What kind of a sense do you have about him Kaomi?" Sevanos asked, "Maybe his subconscious remembers something."

"When he was in that room, I sensed great evil, good, and from him, great fear and anxiety," Kaomi shrugged, "What it means is beyond me."

"Maybe the Repository sent us a warning. He did choose red to sketch those symbols. And you say he was quite afraid." Cid reasoned.

"A warning." Raven said. "Good, evil, maybe a warning about Seraph an Nemesis."

"There goes 'business as usual'."

"Mr. Otaga, this **is** business as usual." Ezulu smiled.

"Rest up you guys, we're all passed from tomorrow's duels." Sevanos left.

-O-

"Sevanos!" Barbas ran into his office, "Google search complete. Here are the results. December 22, 2012 is a Saturday, the estimated date of death for about 50,000 people, interestingly, the final date on the Mayan calendar, 2012 is an American Election year, the..."

"Wait, the Mayan Calendar thing! That sounds important." Sevanos thought, "Mark it, and investigate more."

"Yes, sir." Barbas left.

Sevanos sighed. As soon as Barbas left he stood. He slid the painting behind his desk aside and entered the room of Tablet paintings. He had not been here since his duel with Raven in the private tournament he held after Battle City. He stood in the center of the room. "I feel I've done something very bad." He spoke to himself, "First, I let Raven use that ancient device. How stupid was that? Ezulu reported much longer in the state he was in, he could have died." Sevanos paused, "Moreover, this tournament is a Nationals Qualifier. Meaning the four duelists making it to the Semi-Finals would make it to Nationals next week, which is little more than a formality; since this is the only qualifier anyone took part in. This was stupid. I really don't want to send anyone to the World Championships just for winning a single tournament." He forced a laugh, "Funny, in my head, the two sounded about even, but saying it, the former is a bit worse than the latter, eh?" He stood, silent, "Now I'm talking to myself. Am I loosing my mind? Nowhere near as bad as if I had activated an Ancient Star device, but still..." he paused, "I wish someone would show me which way to go now..." he sighed.

-O-

"The new day dawns, and the third day bring the end of the tournament. The Top Thirteen are here now, with one Wild Card slot available. There is one more Wild Card slot in the Quarter-finals, and with the first one having gone to the relatively new duelist on the block, Kaya Theas, it is leaving everyone to wonder, with the start of the tournament moments away, just what will happen today?" a reporter said to her camera crew, "Back to you, Tomomi." She paused, "That's a wrap. I'm taking my seat." She ran into the stands.

"Attention Ladies, Gentlemen, and Duelists!" Alan-Tax entered the stage, "It is my first pleasure to report that Raven Vaniver is back on his feet and he and those close to him will be back in today's duels!" A cheer rose, "Now, at exactly eleven o'clock, I bring your attention to this stage, where former psycho-twisted self-proclaimed God-king Illarya faces off against her mentor in the ways of good, the Dragon Handler Cid!" Another cheer rose as Cid and Illarya entered the arena. "Duel!" Alan called.

"And so the student becomes the master." Illarya launched her Disk, "Sorry Cid, I won't go easy on you."

Cid launched his Disk, "Nor I, you."

Illarya drew, "I summon the Vorse Raider in attack mode. Go."

"Summon Dragon Dwelling in the Cave in defense mode. And set one card face-down." Cid shook his head, "You'll have to play inventive to defeat me. Don't make moves a novice could predict. Who taught you to open aggressive? Can you think on your feet, Illarya?"

"Better than you think I can, sensei." Illarya replied, "Offer the Vorse Raider for my Luster Dragon #2!"

"Not bad."

"Thank you. Now I play Heavy Storm, blowing away your trap."

"Mirror Force."

"See? You need to make less predictable moves." Illarya set two cards face-down. "Luster, attack!" A fireball slammed into the Cave Dragon, shattering it.

"My move." Cid smiled, "I summon the Lord of Dragons."

"Oh, hell no! No you don't!"

"And play two Flutes of Summoning Dragon!" In the Dragon Lord's hands, two gold flutes appeared. Each sent out a tone. Four orbs fell from the sky, "Summoning Luster Dragon #1, Red Eyes Black Dragon, Twilight Dragon, and Tri-Horned Dragon." Cid laughed. "Just to let you know, my Twilight Dragon's 3000 Attack points aren't the only teeth it has. This monster instantly destroys any Light monster it does battle with. In addition, I may sacrifice any face-up Light or Dark monster to raise this monster's ATK by 500 for one turn. Surprise, surprise. I have Red Eyes and Tri-Horned Dragon on my field. But we'll save that for a direct attack. Tri-Horned, destroy the Luster Dragon."

"Negate Attack!" Illarya called, springing her trap. "My move" She drew. She needed a miracle. And she got it. "I set two cards face-down and play a monster in defense mode. Go." Illarya smiled.

"Red Eyes, attack the defensive monster!" Cid called.

"Reveal Zero Gravity!" All Cid's monsters assumed a defensive posture. "My turn again. Offer my two monsters so summon my Buster Blader!" Illarya called, laughing, "With four dragons on your field and one in your Graveyard, that's a 2500-point boost. Meaning my Blader has 5100 points of attack. Blader, slice up the Twilight Dragon." The Buster Blader slice clear through the black dragon.

"I set one card face-down." Cid called, "Go."

"Blader, take out the Lord of Dragons!"

"You've caused your defeat. My Lord of Dragons has prepared a magic trick for you. It's called Magic Cylinder!"

"Really, 'cause I call this card Seven Tools of the Bandit." Illarya smiled, "What was I saying, Cid? Oh, right." The swordsman flew at the Dragon Lord, slicing it in two.

"Blast." Cid passed his turn.

"This has been fun, but let's get it over with, eh, Cid? Activate Dark Hole!" A black vortex appeared above the field, sucking the monsters on the field into it. "Now, Spell Card, Monster Reborn!" Illarya called, "Come back, Buster!" The Buster Blader rose from the floor of the arena, "Ready, sensei?" Illarya asked.

"Yes." Cid replied.

"Ruin Ray, Obliterate!" Illarya called. The great Dragon Slayer slammed it's sword into the ground, sending a shockwave at Cid, knocking him on his back, and in one direct attack, reducing his Life Points to zero.

"The winner!" Alan called as cheers filled the stadium, "Illarya!"

-O-

"Next, the amazingly grand Raven versus the Toon Girl Ardrea!" Alan called, "Duel!" Cheers rose.

"Ready to go, Raven-boy?" Ardrea smiled.

"You're starting to sound like Pegasus." Raven smirked.

"So?" Ardrea drew. "Perpare yourself for the nightmare of Toon World!" She threw the Toon World card into her Duel Disk. "Now, I summon three Toon Mirmades and sacrifice them for Toon Magician Girl and the Toon Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

"Such a heavy investment. Hate to see it go to waste," Raven drew, "Set three cards face-down and play the Giant Solder of Stone in defense mode!" A great stone solder assumed a defensive posture.

"Blue Eyes, attack directly!"

"Reveal Dust Tornado, blowing your Toon World away, and that attack cost you." Raven watched her Life Points fall to 3500, "And those lovely monsters go too." The Blue Eyes and Magician Girl turned to paper and fell onto the ground, fading away, "As if that wasn't bad enough, I can now set this card as well." Raven smiled, "Did you think this would be easy?"

"No." Ardrea threw a monster in defense mode, "Go, Raven."

"That's right." Raven smiled, "Let's have fun. I activate Soul Exchange, offering your monster and mine for the Dark Magician and set two more cards. Go."

"The time for praise is over. I play Stray Lambs, and activate my Black Illusion Ritual, offering one for the mighty Relinquished!" A little lamb was dropped into a cauldron, which transformed itself into the great and terrible Relinquished. "Absorption Force!" The Relinquished began pulling the Magician in.

"Activate trap Remove Brainwashing!" The Relinquished's pull stopped.

"Summon Soulmaster Meisei, and play the Talisman of Trap Sealing!" The Soulmaster took a pinkish talisman and threw it into the air at the center of the field. "Absorption Force!"

"Activate Spell, Mystic Wok, giving me 2500 Life Points and sacrificing my Dark Magician." Raven called, "My move?"

"Yes." Ardrea scowled.

"Activate spell card Heavy Storm!" Raven ordered. Winds blew their Spell and Trap cards away as his Life Points rose to 6500. "I set two cards and end my turn."

"Sacrifice the Soulmaster for my Illusionist Faceless Mage." Ardrea closed her eyes. She was in an awkward spot. She could attack, but if one of those cards was something to revive a fallen monster, she'd be in a very bad place. Her hand was totally useless to her. All Toons and no Toon World... "I end my turn." She shifted Relinquished to defense mode on her Duel Disk, and the Relinquished on the field closed it's shell.

"Draw!" Raven drew, "Activate Monster Reborn, returning my Dark Magician. Then I summon my Breaker, the Magical Warrior!" A well-dressed magical swordsman came into existence next to the Dark Magician. "Magician, destroy the Mage." The Faceless Mage shattered, "Now, Breaker, hack and slash the Relinquished!" he ordered. Relinquished fell.

"My move." Ardrea drew, and smiled, "Activate spell carda, Monster Reborn on my Relinquished, and Polymerization, combining it with my Thousand Eyes Idol to create!" The two monsters appeared on the field, and a bright light shot from them, the new creature floated there, "Thousand Eyes Restrict!" Each of the one thousand eyes opened, paralyzing the monsters on Raven's field.

"The Restrict." Raven closed his eyes, thinking of a weakness. He found it.

"Absorption Force! Take Breaker!"

"Reveal Shift!" The Dark Magician was absorbed instead.

"Gee, thanks." Ardrea laughed, "I was counting on the fact that you'd be so out of it you'd do that. Restrict, use Pilfered Power Attack!" From the central eye, a great energy blast shot at Breaker."

"Breaker, activate effect and counterattack!" Raven called.

A force pushed back on both. When all was said and done, however, Breaker stood, while Restrict had fallen.

"How?" Ardrea stared forward as her Life Points fell to 1900.

"Simple. Breaker gave up three hundred points of attack to cast a spell of his own, allowing him to destroy one Spell or Trap card on the field." Raven explained.

"So?" Ardrea folded her arms.

"So, I chose the Dark Magician!" The crowd gasped and cheered, "My magician was transformed into a Spell by your fiendish Restrict. By destroying the Magician, I lowered Restrict to zero points of attack. Since it had attacked, Breaker could cut through it like butter." Raven smiled as more cheers rose.

"Set one card and end my turn."

"Summon Forgiving Maiden in defense mode. Breaker, attack!" Raven called. He could have finished it this turn, but he wanted to test the water first.

"Negate Attack!"

"Just as I thought. Go." Raven waved her on.

"Right." She studied her hand. She was fresh out of moves. "Go."

"Offer my Maiden and my Warrior for my great Tyrant Dragon!: Raven called, "Dragon, attack!" he called, That was game.

"The winner, as expected, Raven Vaniver!" Alan called to loud cheers.

-O-

"Match four of seven. The lucky girl from last round, Kaya Theas versus the unstoppable dueling crazed woman, Kaomi Itai!"

"Crazed?" Kaomi entered.

"Duel!" Alan called over the cheers.

Kaomi launched her Duel Disk, "Morning, Missus Otaga."

"Well, if it isn't Vaniver's girl." Kaya launched her Duel Disk.

"I play a monster in defense mode and set one card face-down. Go." Kaomi smiled.

"Summon my Gemini Elf!" The twin elves came to the field. "Attack!"

"Nimble Momonga!" Two face-down monsters appeared, and her Life Points rose to 5000.

"I think I did a bad thing." Kaya sighed.

"Yup. Sacrifice my two monsters for my Seiyaryu!" Kaomi called, "Seiyaryu, destroy that monster! And to finish up, Pot of Greed."

Kaya's Life Points fell to 3400. "Set one monster and a Trap. Go."

_She tipped her hand._ Kaomi thought. _Now I know it's a Trap. Maybe she's bluffing, though... _"Seiyaryu, Mystic Flame!"

"Negate Attack." Kaya smiled.

"Set three cards face-down and a monster and end my turn."

"Sacrifice Kiser Seahorse for Wingweiver."

"Sadly for you, I've studied your moves, Kaya." Kaomi smiled, "So go ahead Attack me."

"I will," Kaya drew back her hand, hesitantly, "Destroy Seiyaryu!"

"Activate Zero Gravity!" Seiyaryu and Wingweiver took defensive positions. "Now, offer my two monsters for Dark Magician of Chaos!" The Pot of Greed slid out of her Graveyard, "Activate Pot of Greed again." She put it back in the Graveyard. "Now, Dark Magician of Chaos, Ultimate Silence, Silence the Wingweiver!"

Kaya drew, "I'm out of moves, aren't I?" She set a monster in defense mode.

"Sorry, Kaya." Kaomi drew, "Activate Monster Reborn, returning Seiyaryu. Seiyaryu, attack. Dark Magician, direct assault."

Kaya watched her Life Points fall, "Finish me, Kaomi. Even if I beat you, you got a better chance going farther than I do. We know it." Kaya sighed, and waved Kaomi on.

"Seiyaryu, obliterate." Kaomi ordered, somewhat saddened.

"The winner, by a give-up, Kaomi Itai!" Alan called.

-O-

"That brings us to the renowned beauty of the arena, Aura Leathe, versus our Wild Card!" A screen behind the stage lit, displayed on it was a picture of each eliminated Duelist. "Ready?" Alan asked. A red square highlighted each picture. One by one the red squares faded away, and the duelist's picture with them. The last picture was enlarged. Serenity Tesconé.

Cheers rose, a section of the crowd began chanting "Serenity! Serenity!"

"Aura versus the lucky L.A. girl Serenity Tesconé!" Alan called to the cheering crowd. Serenity ran onto the stage with Aura. "Duel!" Alan called.

"Lucky you." Aura smiled at Serenity.

"Wish I could say the same, Miss Japan." Serenity shot a glance at Alan and smiled, "Let's see how culture can clash here, eh?"

"What kind of name is Tesconé for an American anyway?" Aura drew, "Go Aqua Mador!" A masked aquatic sorcerer appeared.

"Well, my grandfather was... who cares?" Serenity drew, I set a card face down and play Amazoness Swordswoman in attack mode. Battle damage done to her goes to you, so I attack your Mador, dealing 500 points of damage!" The Swordswman crashed into the Mador's defense screen of water, but Aura's Life Points fell to 3500.

"I gotta kill that" Aura drew, "Or stop it. I set two cards face-down and complete my turn."

"Amazoness, attack!" Serenity ordered.

"Reveal trap card, Spellbinding Circle!" The Mador began chanting and a magical circle appeared around the Amazoness, "Good luck with that strategy, Serenity."

"Fine. Offer my Swordswoman!" The Amazoness and the circle faded, "To bring forth my great Dark Magician Girl!"

"My move." Aura drew, "Nice, but not good enough. Sacrifice Mador for my Millennium Shield." Aura smiled, "Can you take on a Millennium Item?"

"Sure. But not yet." Serenity drew, "Summon Harpie Lady and activate Elegant Egotist, to bring forth my Harpie Lady Sisters!" Serenity smiled, quite pleased.

"Still can't touch me." Aura smirked.

"Not without using every card in my hand. Too bad for you I plan to." Serenity laughed, "Activate Magical Dimension, offering two of my monsters to Special Summon any Spellcaster from my hand, so come forth my Dark Magician!"

"I fail to see what you are trying to do, Serenity..." Aura sighed.

"This. Offer Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl to summon!" Serenity held the last card in her hand high, a blinding light soaring from it, "Sorcerer of Dark Magic!" The two mages flew into the sky, and a blinding light devoured them. Then, the Sorcerer of Dark Magic fell to the field. "Oh, your little trap, it can't be sprung."

"Watch me." Aura scowled.

"Sorcerer, attack that rusty toy of hers." Serenity smiled.

"Reveal my Silver Dollar trap card! This saves my monster of less than 1000 attack from destruction!"

"Well, it would." Serenity conceded, "Silence her trap." The Sorcerer looked at the trap and pointed its staff at it, "Fire at will." A beam of magic cut through the trap card. Serenity smiled at Aura, "You were saying?" Another beam shattered her shield.

"This ain't over! Not by a long shot!" Aura looked at her hand, "In fact, it's time to show you who the real duelist is. First, I play the spell card Portal of Millennia!" Aura's field slid open and she threw the Portal spell in it. In the center of the stage, a great Eye of Anubis appeared. "Next, I play The Shallow Grave, bringing my Shield back, face down defense mode.

"And returning my Harpie Lady Sisters." Serenity smiled. All was going perfectly fine.

"Now, here goes my Millennium Shield and Sword, adding the Millennium Sword to my hand." Aura smiled, "Now, Fusion Sage, adding Polymerization to my hand, and lastly summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands!" An odd fairy-like creature with ten thousand arms appeared on the field, "Adding the Black Luster Solder to my hand." Aura smiled, "A lengthy move, but all comes to fruition now. Activate Polymerization, combining Black Luster Solder, Millennium Sword, and Millennium Shield to create!" The luster solder appeared on the field in gold armor. The great gold Millennium Sword appeared in it's one hand, and the Millennium Shield flew to it's other. "Millennium Luster Solder!!" Aura screamed. "Now, lastly, for my field's effect to hit my monster!" A shining Eye of Anubis appeared on the Solder's forehead, and an odd aura of light surrounded it, "My Luster Solder is protected from Spell and Trap cards as long as the Portal's out. I attack your Sorcerer!" the Luster Solder lunged at the Sorcerer, slicing it in two.

"My move!" Serenity drew, her Life Points down to 1200, "Don't count me out yet, activate Monster Reborn, returning my Sorcerer, and activate the spell, Spell of Reprisal! This adds the Life Points you took from my Life Points last turn and adds them to my Sorcerer!" Serenity smiled, "Bet ya didn't expect that to come back and bite ya. What was it, 2800 Life Points?" The Sorcerer began to chant something and seemed to resonate with energy, "Now they both are at 5000 points of attack, huh? Well, that's what this last spell is for. Go, Megamorph!" The Sorcerer seemed t double in size. "That's 10,000 points of attack. I think that'll do ya in, don't you?"

Aura sighed, and flashed the Mirror Force in her hand.

"That's alright, Aura. My trap was Seven Tools. Sorcerer, OBLITERATE!" Serenity screamed.

"The winner," Alan called, "Lucky Girl Serenity Tesconé!" The crowd, especially Serenity's cheering section, went wild.

-O-

Alan entered the center of the stage hours later, "Attention, spectators! Coming up is the Semi-Final Round!" cheers rose, "The Semi-Finalists are..." Raven's picture with the Tyrant Dragon appeared on the screen behind the stage, "Raven Vaniver!" Raven's was replaced by Serenity's picture with the Dark Magician Girl. "Serenity Tesconé!" The crowd roared as Serenity's picture was replaced by Sevanos with Shinato, "Sevanos Otaga!" Sevanos' picture was finally replaced by the picture of Illarya with the great angel of death, Doma, the Angel of Silence on the screen with her. The other three shot her an odd glare.

"I believe in heart too, you know. Why do you think I took Exodia out? Why do you think I use Buster Blader?" The others continued staring, "Just 'cause I haven't used it on you..." Illarya huffed, "Forget it."

"We're going to have a four-way free-for-all to decide who versus who in the semifinals!" Alan explained to a cheering crowd, "We'll determine who goes when by the following process. Each duelist removes one monster from play at the start of the duel. The attack factor, from highest to lowest, will determine the position of each duelist. In the event two duelists have the same attack value, the defense is examined. If the defense values are the same, it goes alphabetically by card. If the cards are the same, it goes down to alphabetically by the duelist's first name." Alan explained the selection process at length. "Duel!" The, somewhat confused, crowd cheered, because they felt they were supposed to.

"Let's go." Serenity smiled, launching her Duel Disk.

"Time to show you why I'm president of this organization!" Sevanos launched his.

"Fun time!" Raven closed his eyes as his Duel Disk launched.

"Time to duel all of ya, and not hunger for your souls!" Illarya joked, launching her Duel Disk.

"The card I select is the Dark Magician, with 2500 points of attack!" Raven held up his Magician. It was, in his opinion, cooler that the one Yugi had made famous. Raven's was in red armor with white hair. He loved this variation.

"My card is the Guardian Angel Joan!" Serenity smiled, "Had to one-up you, Raven!"

"My card is the Shining Friendship," Sevanos smiled, "I'm not foolishly wasting my greatest monsters on the starting positions."

"I am." Illarya laughed, "Buster Blader."

"So, wait, I choose one of the highest attacks you can get out of a normal monster, and I come in third!" Raven sighed, "Isn't that my luck."

"Calm down, the duel hasn't started yet." Illarya looked over to him, "Innocently, sorry for defeating Kaomi."

"No worries, Illarya. I'll just have to win this for the both of us."

"So cute." Sevanos scowled, "I'm going to throw up. Make your move, Serenity."

"Right." She drew, "I play two cards face down and summon Harpie's Brother in attack mode. Go, Illarya."

"Right." Illarya drew, taking on a more serious demeanor, "I summon Sangan in defense mode and set this. Go."

Raven drew, "Go and serve, my Rocket Warrior!" The small missile flew onto the scene. "And another face-down card."

"I'll finish the round by playing my monster in defense mode. That's all." Sevanos nodded to Serenity.

Serenity drew. _What a spot, s_he thought, _If I attack Raven, I do damage... but the question is who do I want to face... I know Raven and Sevanos our out of my league, but Illarya is too! I really don't belong here. I can't beat any of these people... I'll just take who I get. Thinking about it isn't getting me anywhere! _She resolved to treat it as any other duel, and to take an opportunity like Rocket Warrior. Of what she had seen Raven play, Rocket wasn't one of them... but she could afford risks right now. "Summon Vampire Lady!" Serenity called, eying the arsenal of traps poised to slay her from the other duelists, "Vampire Lady, devour the Rocket Warrior!"

"Reveal my Rush Recklessly!" Raven called.

"Ouch." She winced. She couldn't do anything about that. The Rocket Warrior flew through her Vampire and hit her square on, lowering her Life Points to 3350. She eyed the Sangan and Sevanos' card, but decided not to see what secrets other duelists had to offer. "Go."

"Summon Witch of the Black Forest" Illarya smiled, "And activate Polymerization."

"Sangan and Witch of the Black Forest?" Serenity cocked her head.

"Allowing me to retrieve Watapon and Doma, the Angel of Silence!" Illarya smiled, "Watapon in instantly summoned, and I sacrifice it for Doma, the Angel of Silence by activating Ultimate Offering and paying 500 Life Points!"

"Yes." Raven braced himself. This wasn't good.

"Come forth, one of my favorite monsters, Sangan-Witch!" A more bluish Sangan in white magician's robes appeared from the hologram of the Polymerization, as the regular Sangan and Witch of the Black Forest faded away, "2100 points of attack, 1800 points of defense, and 9999 points of cuteness!" Illarya smiled thinly, "Sangan-Witch, destroy Harpie's Brother!"

"What kind of name is Sangan-Witch anyway?" Serenity hit a trigger on her Disk, activating her trap, "Shift! This focuses your attack on Raven's monster!"

"How nice of you." Raven shot a glare at Serenity as the Sangan-Witch's magic crashed into his Rocket, and reduced his Life Points to 3400, "Still beating you though." He smiled at Serenity.

"Doma, attack..." Illarya paused. This took thinking. She didn't want Raven to fall until she figured out which way she was going... "Attack Sevanos!"

"My monster was Monkey Monkey." The small square angel was shattered by Doma's touch of death.

"My move!" Raven drew, "I'll defend with this and set three cards. Go."

Sevanos drew, "I set a monster as well, and three cards face-down." Sevanos waved Serenity on.

"Offer Harpie's Brother for the Dark Magician Girl and set another face-down card. Go." Serenity glared at Illarya.

"Sangan-Witch, attack the Dark Magician Girl!" Illarya ordered. She had to take the risk. If this DMG threat were to escalate...

"Raigeki Break!"

"Getting rid of my Witch?"

"No, your Angel." Serenity glared at Doma, "And I discard my Dark Magician by the Break's effect, meaning you lose Witch, and 200 Life Points."

"Are you three content to play by yourselves or will you just 'bring it on' already." Sevanos scoffed.

"Go, Vaniver." Illarya scowled at Serenity.

"Indeed I will. First, I'll activate Foolish Burial on my great Barrel Dragon. This will send it to Serenity's Graveyard, now I combine it with Monster Reborn, returning it to my field. Now, I activate its effect targeting Sevanos' monster." The Barrel Dragon appeared on Raven's field, cannons fixed on the defensive monster. The first cannon showed a green light, the second did as well, and so did the third. "Blow it up, but attack Illarya's Life Points directly." A single cannon shot Illarya, knocking her down to 1200, but two shot at Sevanos' monster, Kelbek, before shattering it.

"My move!" Sevanos drew, "Summon my Agent of Creation, Venus, and pay 1500 Life Points to summon three Shine Balls. All in attack mode mind you."

"Draw!" Serenity called once Sevanos waved her on. "I activate Sage's Stone and Knight's Title, acquiring my second Dark Magician and transforming it into the Dark Magician Knight. This raises my DMG to 2600, and allows me the power to destroy one monster on the field. I select the Barrel Dragon!" Serenity glanced at Raven, "Bye-bye, Barrel!" The Magician Knight began chanting as its sword lit aglow. Black runes began swirling around the blade, as the Knight slid his hand along the edge, lightly enough to touch, but soft enough as not to cut. "Dark Destruction Slash, instantly destroy Raven's monster and attack him directly!" The Magician sliced the Dragon in hald and Raven stepped back bracing for the powerful blow that came next.

Raven simply laughed, "You proceed as if this were an everyday duel. You ever think that perhaps you just did me a favor? Put me a step in the right direction?" his Life Points fell to 900

"Maybe, but who cares? DMG, go for Illarya's Life Points!" Serenity smiled.

Illarya's Life Points hit zero.

"My move!" Raven drew, "I summon my Forgiving Maiden and attack the Dark Magician Knight!" Raven ordered. His Maiden flew across the field but the sword of the Magician Knight sliced it apart.

"Fool." Serenity smiled.

"No, I wanted to face Illarya. A bit of retribution for elimination Kaomi, I curse you to third place at best!" Raven smiled at Illarya.

"Sounds like a mighty fine curse, Mr. Vaniver." Illarya laughed, "But I promise, no Shadow Game this time."

-O-

"What?" Barbas entered the Operations room where Shuyin and Aura stood.

"Lantash is missing, and the Ancient Star is acting odd." Opaka spun in her chair.

"And these two?" he motioned to Shuyin and Aura.

"Aura is concerned for Lantash." Opaka explained.

"And Shuyin?"

"What else, the remote control." Opaka gestured to the moniter, where the match-ups for the semi-finals were posted.

"Tell them to postpone for a half an hour, and tell them to get over here. Also, contact Wesley; tell him I'll meet him outside. Tell him we'll use his car." Barbas went for the door.

"Where are you going?" Opaka asked.

"Lantash hunting. When Raven and Sevanos arrive, Aura, take them to the fifth basement floor. Tell them that it's the Ancient Star. Sevanos can that you past the security measures." Barbas made rapidly for the door.

"What about me?" Opaka called.

"Phones!" Barbas exited.

"I really don't want to watch thirty minutes of break. Can we change the channel now?" Shuyin asked Opaka, as Aura exited as well.

"Sit down and shut up." Opaka sighed. "Good luck, Barbas."

-O-

Mere moments later. Raven and Sevanos stood before the glowing device.

"Who touched it?" Sevanos sighed, "Tell me it was Shuyin so I can kick him."

"It wasn't." Aura reported, "It just started up."

An Eye of Anubis began glowing on Raven's forehead, "We should go." He said.

"What?"

"Now. Evacuate the building." Raven looked over his shoulder as Sevanos.

"Right." Sevanos dragged Aura out.

"It's only a matter of time now." He closed his eyes as his hair began to be tossed by a nonexistent wind.


	20. The End Game

Lantash burst onto the arena floor, with a now near-empty stadium, darkened by lack of floodlight. "The sign is coming."

"Yeah. Sign this." Barbas stood opposite Lantash holding a silver case, "Wes, lights on."

The floodlights buzzed to life, shining down upon them, Barbas smiled, "Let's talk Lantash." He sat the case on the ground, and crouched next to it, "You got people worried back at the HQ." he pulled the Duel Disk out of the case, "But what I really want is to know what sign you're referring to."

Lantash smiled, "The sign I knew would come, mortal. The reason I gave this vessel willingly to Seros, the reason I helped you defeat Illarya. I wanted to be here when the climactic battle came to pass. So I could watch your futures end."

"Well, it seems we have a wolf in sheep's clothing." Barbas stood, Duel Disk on his arm, launching.

"Well, it appears the cards will do the talking for us." Lantash launched his Duel Disk.

-O-

In the Stars HQ, alarms sounded. Lights thought the building turned red. Opaka's voice rang through the halls, "Clear the building, this is not a drill!"

Shuyin looked over at Opaka, Sevanos, and Aura, "Shouldn't we go?"

"Yes." Sevans nodded, turning.

"What about Raven?" Aura said, worried.

"Raven knows what he's doing." Sevanos led the other three out of the building.

-O-

"Summon my Gearfried the Iron Knight and st a card face-down. Go." Barbas smiled.

"Summon my Skilled Dark Magician and attack!" ordered Lantash.

"Reveal trap card Windstorm of Etaqua!" The Skilled Mage took a defensive pose. "My move." Barbas drew, "Summon my Ancient Lizard Warrior!" A Lizard with a mere 1400 points of attack appeared. "Gearfried, his Magician, Lizard, his Life Points!"

Lantash drew, Life Points down to 2600 as he set two cards face-down, "Not bad. Summon Skilled White Magician! Magician, defend!"

"My move!" Barbas drew, smiling, "Sacrifice my Ancient Lizard Warrior and Gearfried the Iron Knight for my Serpent Knight Dragon!" The great dragon entered the playing field, "Dragon, destroy his monster." Barbas smiled, "You call yourself a duelist? I haven't played since Battle City, but I'm still roasting you!"

"Are you?" Lantash laughed, "Or are you just out of date?" he drew, "Now, my two Magicians leave my side!" The Skilled Magician flew out of the Graveyard. "And call forth my Chaos Emperor Dragon!" Lantash grinned evilly, "Also activate these cards, Card of Sanctitiee, raising our hands to six cards each, and Card Destruction, sending them to the Grave!" Lantash smiled, "Then reveal Disgraceful Charity! This brings up to having twelve card hands, friend. Now, Chaos Emperor Dragon, activate effect Apocalypse!" The Emperor Dragon shot a great blast at Barbas, knocking him onto the ground, deck scarrered about him. "That's 12000 damage by CED's effect, since my Interdimensional Matter Transporter saves my CED." Lantash smiled, "That's right, Barbas, lie down. You're dead and you don't know it yet. Now out of my way!" Lantash screamed, drawing back his right hand, and swiftly casting his hand aside, causing Barbas to fly into the stands, seriously injured no doubt. Lantash looked to Wes, "Aren't you going to run?"

"Not likely!" Wesley walked to where Barbas was and launched his Duel Disk, placing the eyepiece on his face and activating it.

-O-

Raven stared at the Repository, "What kind of Pandora's Box did we open?" Raven closed his eyes as the device began to break apart.

-O-

Sevanos ran to the street at the edge of the parking lot where Opaka, Shuyin, Aura, and now Kaomi stood. "Except Raven, the building's clear."

"You left him there?" Kaomi scowled.

"He told the rest of us to go." Sevanos said, defensive, "So don't accuse me! Besides, he can take care of himself. He knows what he's do-"

-O-

A great earthquake rocked the area, from the building to the Stadium, and all across the quaint community. As it shook, the HQ began to become consumed in an odd glow, a bright blue pillar of light shot straight up through the building, and expanded to encompass it. The pillar seemed to stretch to the heavens themselves.

-O-

"This is it!" Lantash laughed, the Chaos Emperor Dragon staring down Wesley as Lantash was occupied with the pillar, "This is the sign!"

"Yeah, it's a sign all right." Wesley stared at it, "'Going out of business'."

Lantash deactivated his Duel Disk, "I'll let you be. Go tell Raven and Sevanos that Hathor said 'Hello'." Lantash laughed as he walked off.

-O-

Outside the Stars building rubble seemed to be strewn everywhere. Cars overturned, the ground ripped up at the base of the pillar, and those outside lay on the ground.

Sevanos stood. He looked at the pillar of light surrounding the building.

"Could he have survived that?" Aura asked, then paused, and closed her eyes, "Oh, Kaomi. Kaomi I'm so sorry..."

"He's alive, alight?" Kaomi shot back, "He's fine."

-O-

Raven staggered to his feet, still in his Yami form. "Now I know what the floor of a taxi feels like." He looked about him. He wasn't in the basement; he seemed to be atop the pillar. The walls passed the place where he stood by ten feet or so, but the sky was right above him. The walls and floor seemed to be made of a sort of energy. Thinking about how was headache-causing material, no doubt.

"It is time." A voice rang. A cloud of darkness swirled to form a human; a male in black battle armor with a silvery trim.

"Yes. Time to quit meddling in fate." A white cloud produced a similar result, but in white and gold armor.

"What the hell am I doing here?" Raven asked.

"Keeping others out, and mediating." The white knight, Seraph, responded.

"And being the first to go when this goody-goody looses." The black-clad Nemesis smiled.

"We'll see." A Duel Disk of pure light, in its launched position, appeared on Seraph's arm.

"I talk big, but my wrath is bigger!" A disk of shadows appeared on Nemesis's arm.

"Duel!" They called, lightning cracking overhead as cloud cover moved in.

-O-

"Call Alan, tell him the finals will convene in the morning, due to unexpected delays." Sevanos ordered Serenity, "Ardrea, next time you see Pegasus, tell him we're sorry about losing the prototype." He then came to Kaomi, "I'm sure he's alive in there, Kaomi. Although I'm sure I'm dead soon enough."

"C'mon, the insurance in there must be alright." Kaomi tried to comfort him.

"Well, we'll see." Sevanos sighed. "I'm going to make a damage report.

-O-

Lantash approached the pillar from the opposite side. It was amazing, but did not appear to be solid.

"Lantash!" Sevanos stared at him.

"I represent one with a vested interest in this match. The great and powerful Hathor. Stay out of my way." Lantash called.

"I can't do that." Sevanos launched his Duel Disk.

-O-

"Raven!" Sevanos called walking through the barrier of light.

Seraph and Nemesis shot each other a gaze, and flew to Raven and Sevanos's sides respectively.

"A double duel?" Raven asked Seraph.

"My good friend, a little less impersonal." Nemesis laughed and flew into Sevanos. Sevanos had a brief look of pain on his face, but that faded as his eyes turned totally black. A black Eye of Anubis took form on his forehead. "Get ready Seraph." Sevanos's voice wasn't heard. It was the dark inhuman voice of Nemesis.

"I get the idea." Raven closed his eyes. When he opened them he stood where Seraph was, and he looked to his idea to see himself. His eyes were a pure white and upon his forehead was a white Eye of Anubis. He had astral projected. Sent himself in to an out-of-body experience in order to let Seraph take command.

Both decks shimmered slightly. Odds are these demigods had their own decks to use. They still used their light and shadow Duel Disks.

"Let's go!" Seraph spoke in a voice similar to Nemesis, but a bit more benevolence rang in it. "I'll make the first move. I summon Kiser Seahorse and set two cards face-down. Go."

"I set two cards face-down and summon Double Coston." Nemesis smiled.

"They really are opposites." Raven said to himself.

"We're in mortal shells, we can differ now." Seraph replied, "Too bad we have to bind immense power to use a human's body..."

"Shut up and duel!" Nemesis screamed.

"Watch, Raven." Seraph smiled, "Ready for a total shut-out? Sacrifice my monster for Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

_Since they're not of this plane, stands to reason their decks aren't either. _Raven sighed; _I wish I had a Blue-Eyes. Imagine what Cid would offer for it._

"Reveal Chain Disappearance, removing all three of your Blue Eyes from play!" Nemesis smiled.

"Reveal spell, Dimension Fusion!" Seraph smiled, "and send out Polymerization, forming the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

"Reveal Wabaku!" Nemesis sighed. He drew, "Summon Red Eyes Black Dragon and activate trap card Refresher! By paying half my Life Points, I can Special Summon my Meteor Dragon and combine them to form the Meteor Black Dragon."

"Ultimate Dragon, attack and destroy!" Seraph called. "Good wins 'cause evil stupidly plays in attack mode. You have 1000 Life Points left, Nemesis."

"How anticlimactic. Too bad I'm now reviving my monster and adding these two cards, Scroll of Bewitchment, enchanting my Meteor Black Dragon with magical abilities. Allowing it to cast the Spell of Reprisal! Making its attack power 6500, beating yours by 2000. Attack!"

Seraph winced as the Ultimate Dragon was destroyed. He drew, Life Points down to 2000, "Trap card, Rope of Life!" The Ultimate Dragon retuned, boasting 5300 points of attack. "Set two cards and go."

"So good plays poorly too? You left your monster in Attack Position." Nemesis smiled, "Too bad for you I had a plan. Dragon, attack!"

"So did I! Reveal cards, DNA Surgery, making all monsters Dragons once more, and getting rid of the magic within your Dragon, and I also activate the Tailor of the Fickle, giving my Dragon your Dragon's old spell. Since my card doesn't require a correct target, my Dragon is still super-powered by the Reprisal spell." Seraph smiled, "Ultimate Dragon, with a grand total attack strength of 8300, obliterate him!"

Nemesis closed his eyes, "You've weathered the storm, fair Earth, but you know how weather goes... no calm is eternal."

"Bold words, Nemesis."

"You know, brother, my defeat, as my equal and opposite force, is your defeat." Nemesis smiled, "Your hand in these ties of fate is through if mine is."

"Perhaps. But I think these people are strong enough to make their own destiny." Seraph smiled as they drifted out of their host bodies, and slowly the owners of the bodies regained control.

"Really? Somehow I think our work here has yet to end." Nemesis laughed manically as he disappeared.

"He'll be back. I'm sorry we keep intruding on you all. It's really the fault of my somewhat psychotic brother." Seraph went to vanish himself; "I'll just try to keep counterbalancing him like I have till now."

"Maybe..." Raven stopped Seraph from leaving too, "Maybe our fate _is _to have you two mess around with our fate."

Sevanos laughed, "Like fate is too lazy to write our story itself."

Raven smiled, "We could have worse writers."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Seraph faded away.

"Ya know..." Sevanos turned to walk out of the pillar, "That was an anti-climactic duel. I mean, that was sopposed to be the hard part?"

"I don't think we've reached the hard part yet." Raven made for the exit, "Think Seraph left me those Blue Eyes?" Sevanos shot him a glare, "Yeah, I thought not."

A bright flash forced both men to blink. When they reopened their eyes, they stood in the lobby of the Stars building. The others ran in.

"The building just... reappeared.." Wesley explained. Medics wheeled Barbas in.

"What happened to him?" Sevanos asked.

"A duel with Lantash. Lantash seems to have telekinetic powers; he threw Barbas from the arena floor in the Stadium to the stands. Broke a few bones, but Barbas will recover. Lantash gave me a message for you two. Err... 'Hathor says hello'. Mean anything to you?"

"No. Not particularly." Raven replied.

"I ran into Lantash outside the Pillar of Light the Ancient Star created. He said his boss, Hathor, had a vested intrest in the match between Seraph and Nemesis."

"I remember something now, from my super-brain episode. 'The Dark and Light spawned ghosts of gods, the malevolence of all mankind Nemesis, and the benevolence of all mankind, Seraph. The ghosts war with no meaning to their existence for all of eternity. But even eternity is not forever. Should the ghosts become mortal and war, the balance of our world rides on the outcome. Seraph, whose heart know only light, fights to protect existence and return both to their essence form, but Nemesis, whose heart knows only darkness, fights for the end of all existence.' No wonder I tried to warn you guys. 'The Great Box of Knowledge,' the repository, 'was made to give the necessary powers to those seeking to prevent this shadow duel, but others sealed their knowledge in as well, lo leave their legacy for ages to come.' The story of the Repository."

"What about 12, 22, 2012?" Seraph asked.

"Don't know."

"Trinary code?" Wesley shrugged.

:"There are three levers on the device." Raven shrugged.

-O-

"I assume the first two levers are one and two, and the third imputs." Wes reasoned.

Raven pulled the first lever, than the third. Both levers reset and a glowing number one appeared. He pulled all thee and a 2 appeared. He pulled levers six more times, until 12, 22, 2012 was displayed on the device. That slid to the top and revealed text below it. Raven reads aloud, "It says 'by your calendar, December 22, 2012 is the predicted date of activation for this device. This device will trigger the climactic battle. Though the ghosts can tamper with fate, we believe this date will not only be the date of activation, but the last day of existence. We do not possess the power to destroy the eternal device of the Pharaoh's Court, so we placed a warning inside. You must intervene. Human intervention is the key to our continued existence in this realm.' It's wrong."

"The Mayan colander... based on a mistake made by Egyptians?" Wes cocked his head.

"We did find some pieces of the device in a museum in Central America." Sevanos shrugged, "Maybe the Mayan people had it."

"Maybe." Raven sighed, "We have a tournament to complete don't we?"

-O-

"The winner of the Fallen Star Cup, after his close defeat of Serenity Tesconé," Alan called just a few hours later, at almost eleven-thirty, "Raven Vaniver!"

Raven graciously took the trophy.

-O-

Raven entered his quarters to find, to his dismay, that although the Millennium Scale was gone, a letter had come from Shadi.

_Raven,_

_You have handled this task better than brilliantly. If anyone should wield these scaled it should be you. I apologize for taking them back from you, but I had little choice. I am of the opinion that the Millennium Puzzle, Millennium Ring, the Millennium Rod, the Millennium Eye, the Millennium Necklace, the Millennium Key, and your Millennium Scales will need to gather again soon. This said, rumor tells of an eighth. Rumor also has it that before departing for America, the Pharaoh destroyed it. I do not believe the second rumor. It's possessor, Anubis, was destroyed, and banished from the Pyramid of Light, but I believe the shattered Pyramid wasn't the authentic one. I am of the belief that the authentic Pyramid of Light shall reveal itself to you. Bide your time and wait for it's arrival or my return .In the meantime, Raven, do enjoy yourself. You deserve a break. Play the game, become as well known as the Pharaoh himself, and have fun! Life has much to offer. You will do well to enjoy it. You have a lifetime of challenges to your honor and to the Pyramid and to those you care for, so the reprieve should be indulged in. _

_Best Wishes,_

_Shadi._

Raven sighed. The note was both bad and good. Those notes suck, Raven decided.

-O-

Raven entered Sevanos' office early the next morning.

"Raven, check this out." Sevanos showed Raven a computer list, "We're A List duelists! Same rank as Seto Kaiba and Yugi Motou!"

"Wait a sec... S List?" Raven pointed to a hyperlink at the bottom of the web page.

"Get this description, 'A rank surpassing that of A List, the S List duelists are the best in the world. Their play-to-win attitude and deck styles are trend-setting and could easily duel circles around those on A List.' Can you believe that?" Sevanos read.

"Pretentious brats." Raven scowled. Then an idea fromed that brought a smile to his face, "Where are the World Championships?"

"America. New York City I think." Sevanos shrugged.

"To paraphrase their Statue of Liberty, 'Give me your ignorant, pompous, and gloriously diluted masses, and I will show them Heart of the Cards owns all.'" Raven lauged.

Sevanos picked up his phone, "Alan, prep the jet."

"Who's representing Japan?" Raven asked.

"Well, we have earned six slots in the Championship this year... so my, you, Serenity, Illarya, Kaomi and Cid?"

"No, Serenity and Illarya qualified for America's six." Raven replied.

"Well, how about we throw in Aura and Shuyin, for laughs?" Sevanos offered his opinion.

"Sounds good." Raven nodded.

"Alright. I'll send the list in a few minutes, and call the other six to the jet. The rest of our friends will take the second jet over." Sevanos planned.

"Sounds good." Raven exited.

-O-

Kaomi sat observing a duel. One duelist was a child she recognized. She would never know who it was if not for the Seiyaryu the young girl had on the field. It had Kaomi's name on its stomach.

"So that's how it renders." Raven sat on the bench next to her."

"Yup. I bet she feels special. She has a one-of-a-kind Seiyaryu." Kaomi smiled.

"No one else asked you?" Raven asked.

"Well, that creepy guy you knocked out with your Duel Disk the other day, but I knocked him out with mine before he could finish his sentence." Kaomi smiled.

"Good times." Raven laughed lightly, "We're going to the World Championship. Apparently some cocky group of self-proclaimed 'Masters of the Duel' thinks they can play circles around us."

"They're in for more than they bargained for." Kaomi smiled. "I really stunk up that tournament Raven."

"You're going. No question. Arkith was right, you can't let defeat get you down." He reminded her.

"I'm afraid of loosing where my losses count for something." She looked at Raven

"This S List is spreading their spheres of influence. Others are thinking like them..." Raven paused, "I'm willing to brake myself to shake this veil from everything I know. I'm not afraid. You shouldn't be. I will defend you. I will save you."

"I've got the faith in my deck Raven, but not in my own heart." Kaomi sighed.

"Believe in yourself, Kaomi Itai." Raven closed his eyes, "Have the faith to believe you can do anything."

Kaomi was very silent for a moment, motionless. She was pondering these words. Then a smile swept her face, "Those jerks won't know what hit 'em!"

"That's the Kaomi I know!" Raven laughed, "We leave later today!"


	21. Part V

Part V 

World Championship Tournament

Sort of based on a friends story, showing the good old heart-versus-cheap struggle in everyone. And like in most, the struggle is oddly easy. Although unexplained in the story, these people were more or less handed their WCT invites. That should explain a lot. That's that and this is "World Championship Tournament"!


	22. The Torunament Begins!

Raven stood outside the jet, waiting for take-off. He had herd from Ardrea Amun, a liaison between the Stars of Destiny and Industrial Illusions, that this was an Industrial Illusions tournament, and they had cut the deck size to forty cards. He disliked this. It made him feel confined. She had also mentioned that they were using a system for wins similar to Kaiba Corp.'s 'Battle City', where the winner of a duel gets the loser's rarest card. All the same, half the duelists were those pretentious, ignorant, and gloriously diluted 'S List' duelists, who took themselves so seriously, they probably all have ulcers, or will by twenty. Raven closed his eyes and envisioned the lot.

He had heard that although play of Duel Monsters was at the highest yet, with so many duelists either afraid that Yugi Motou might partake in the World Championship, or hunting his God Cards down on their own, the qualifiers suffered low turnout. Only one Japanese Qualifier, the Fallen Star Cup, had any turnout whatsoever, apparently America, Europe, the rest of Asia, indeed, the world all suffered the same. Duelists were common, but bold duelists were slim.

Perhaps it was connected to the S List? Duelists like them dueled for only victory, and no doubt made the sting of defeat twice as bad for duelists of Heart. They disrespected other duelists. They disrespected their own decks. They were dishonorable.

Raven opened his eyes and stared at his deck. What if their despicable, dishonorable, and self-important decks and styles actually were good? Actually beat him? The only duelist who Raven could imagine making a recovery from such a stinging defeat was Seto Kaiba himself. Raven admired Kaiba. No matter how many times Kaiba dueled little Yugi, he still lost. Every time. He won once by using underhanded tactics, playing on Yugi's mercy by risking his own life. That, Raven found dishonorable. But for the rest of the duels, even after losing his God Card in Battle City, he gave his all. For the three years leading up to this summer, for the year and a half between Battle City and Duelist Kingdom, Kaiba tried to become more than he was, to grow as a duelist.

The S List duelists didn't. They used cheap tactics and never grew. They didn't aspire to become more than they were, the just believed no one was better. They were heartless, not only with their decks, but their very lives. Raven wanted them stopped.

"Good afternoon, Raven!" Wesley greeted him.

"Hey." Raven said, indifferently.

"A few things, as winner of the Fallen Star Cup, you get a second little trophy." Wes handed Raven a Duel Disk. It was made mainly of gold, though the monster slots were silver. The activation triggers on the side were all crystal, and the small red arrows on the monster slots were made of ruby. The piece above the Graveyard, normally red, was now a whitish-gold, but the rest was a pure yellowish-gold.

"You're kidding?" Raven looked at Wes, a little shocked.

"By order of Sevanos." Wes smiled, "I'll also be pilot of the jet this time."

"Cool. Who's on out passenger list?" Raven asked.

"You, me, Sevanos, Kaomi, Kaya, Illarya, Aura, Shuyin, Cid, Serenity, Ardrea, Alan, Barbas, and Opaka." Wes smiled, "I think we're at capacity, too."

"Nah, we can seat fifteen, safely." Sevanos approached. "That's only fourteen."

"Well let's pull someone off the street then." Wes shot him a glare.

"We're flying to New York? I hope we're under capacity, I learned just how loud Shuyin snores on the way back from L.A." Raven laughed.

"How long till take-off?" Wes asked.

"I've ordered everyone here soon. The first round is tomorrow afternoon." Sevanos explained.

"I've been meaning to ask, how will this work? I know there are twenty-four duelists, that breaks down into twelve, then six, then three." Raven explained, "But what happens at three?"

"Each duelist plays each other duelist and the one with the most victories wins." Sevanos sighed. He hadn't time to waste. Somehow, he expected to see Lantash again soon. Maybe even at this tournament. He closed his eyes, remembering their duel.

"_Lantash, that match is none of your concern." Sevanos drew, his Guardian Angel Joan before him. _

"_It's my boss's concern." Lantash explained._

"_Yes, this 'Hathor' of yours." Sevanos folded his hand, "Joan, attack his defensive monster."_

"_Draw." Lantash grinned evily, "Emove my Skilled Magicians from play to summon Chaos Emperor Dragon. Dragon, activate effect!"_

"_Reveal Reverse of Reverse!" Sevanos smiled, "This card allows me to use the last card you set, the Barrel Behind the Door!" As the explosion from Chaos Emperor Dragon flew at him, a small barrel appeared before him. This absorbed the explosion and shot it at Lantash._

"_You." Lantash said, enraged. The explosive force hit him, kicking up a cloud of dirt and smoke._

"_Tell Hathor to send someone more capable next time." Sevanos smiled _

_As the smoke began to clear, it became apparent that Lantash was gone..._

"Earth to Sevanos!" Shuyin waved his hand from the plane, "Lift-off. T-minus 10!"

"Shooties." Sevanos hopped quickly onto the plane, and sealed the door behind him.

-O-

"Duelists." The annoyingly pleasant voice came over the Public Announcement system at the Convention Center in New York the next afternoon, "Match-ups for round one will be announced soon. Please report to the Stadium Antechamber."

Sevanos sighed. The moment of truth approached.

"Sevvy-boy!" Pegasus smiled, approaching the Stars. He was wearing his dark red and yellow suit, with a standards issue Duel Disk.

"Pegasus! A pleasure to see you well." Sevanos smiled, white robes and all, "The Ancient Star proceeds as planned."

"Come, now. I didn't come out of retirement to talk shop all the time." He smiled, and nodded to Ardrea, "How have you been shaping up?"

"Very well, Sensei." Ardrea bowed. She wore a suit almost exactly like his.

"Ah, Cid Orlandu! I hear tell you're quite apt at summoning the Ultimate Dragon." Pegasus moved on to talking with Cid.

"Yeah." Cid shrugged, in black robe and cloak as always.

"Splended show." Pegasus handed him a card.

"'Blue Eyes... Shining Dragon'?"

"Yuppers." He then moved to Raven. "And boy what I've heard of you."

"A pleasure to meet in person." Raven bowed. He had his classic black trenchcoat, but wore white under it.

"Yeah. Doubly so. I've wanted to meet you since you sent me that Duelist Kingdom invite." Kaomi bowed as well. She wore a purpleish top with similarly colored shorts.

"Indeed, Mr. Vaniver and Ms. Itai. I hear you've showed plenty of people what-for." Pegasus smiled, "I have a charge for the lot of you. These new duelists think they're all that, and seem to back it up. We're going to change all that."

"S list. We know." Sevanos nodded.

"We'll bury them." Illarya interjected, now wearing her white shirt and black jeans with a dark blue coat.

"Good to here from one who'll do just that." Pegasus joked.

"Can we just get on with the match-ups?" Shuyin sat on a bench, wearing a white shirt, blue jeans, and a tan coat.

"Attention duelists!" A woman, the pleasant-sounding one from earlier, entered the antechamber. "The first duel will be between Shuyin Belove from Japan, with Ultima, and Emily Hunter from Canada, with the Needle Worm." The woman smiled.

-O-

Lights focused on the arena in the center of the great, enclosed, stadium. Lights on the floor lit as well, all hitting a focal point in the center of the dueling field. From that point, the lights then spread to equally cover the entire field. A woman entered from the door center stage and took her position at one end.

Shuyin took his place opposite the woman, Emily. "Hey, Hunter, you're going down!" Shuyin smiled, launching his Duel Disk.

"So you think." Emily said, emotionless.

"I'll draw." Shuyin began his turn; "I summon Loyal Knight in defense mode. That's a good two thousand points of defense to chomp through." A knight with a large shield appeared before Shuyin.

"I'll set one monster in defense mode. Go." Emily said, seeming bored.

"Not doing it for you? How about this; summon my Little-Windguard, and play the Wicked-Breaking Flamberg!" A tiny guardian came to the field holding a big sword, "Windguard, attack!"

"Needle Worm." Emily flipped her card. She paused. Why wasn't it doing anything? Why was his deck not slimming?

"Sorry, Em, but my Flamberg negates effects." Shuyin smiled, setting a card, "Your move."

"I underestimated you. It won't happen again. First, I activate the spell card Share the Greed, this makes us both draw two cards each Draw Phase." Emily explained, "Then I summon my Beistro Butcher, Also, here go my Spells, Mystical Space Typhoon and Gravekeeper's Servant." She paused. The Windguard's sword was gone, but she couldn't detory his face-down card... "Attack."

"Reveal Zero Gravity." The Butcher defended, as Shuyin drew two cards, "I activate Oath to Order, offering my Windguard to summon my Grand Knight, and finally I play the Magic Knight." Both a knight with a giant sword and a knight with a sword and shield both marked with crests appeared before shuyin, "And I sacrifice them to play my Triad of the High Knights!" The three knights now stood together, Their Attack and Defense points soared to 3500. "Knights, attack!" A shadowy shand shot from Emily's other card, the Gravekeeper's Servant, and dragged one of Shuyin's cards to the Graveyard; Higher Power. Nevertheless, the Triad sliced and diced up the Butcher.

"I draw." She examined her hand, "Set two cards and defend. Go."

"Draw!" Shuyin drew two cards.

"Reveal twin Drop Offs!" Emily smiled, "Send them both to the Grave."

"Attack!" Shuyin ordered. The hand dragged down Remote Detonation. The monster revealed was Needle Worm.

"You're susceptible now." Emily watched as five more cards vanished from his deck.

"Go."

Emily drew two cards, "Activate another Gravekeeper's Servant and set this card. Go."

Shuyin drew his two cards, and eyed her evily. He was loosing deck fast, and unless he did something, she'd defend long enough to keep this going forever. To top it all off, he had to keep discarding every turn thanks to his Triad. He'd risk another attack, though. "Attack!" This time two shadowy hands stole cards from his Deck.

"Reveal my Morphing Jar. We lose our hands and draw five new cards."

Shuyin growled. Half his deck was in the Grave.

"I set this card and activate Card Destruction, revealing my Soul Reversal, sending my Needle Worm to the top of my deck, and I draw. And play a monster in defense mode. You have how many cards left?"

Shuyin sighed after drawing. "Not many." In truth, it was eleven. He needed a solution now He sort of had one. "I do not pay the cost of my Triad." The three knights separated, "and I offer my Magic Knight and Loyal Knight to summon my Cosmo Queen." He sighed. This all relied on one card now. "And play Monster Reborn, returning my Vampire Lord! Grand Knight, attack!" The great two thousand attack point knight sliced through the Needle Worm, while a total of seven cards vanished from his deck. "Perfect. Four left. My two monsters, attack directly!" All Shuyin's cards disappeared, but it didn't matter, the combined assault of his Queen and his Lord put Emily away.

"You... you beat me?" Emily handed over her Needle Worm.

"I have no need for this." Shuyin looked at the card.

"It's yours. Please take it." Emily walked away.

-O-

"Nice job, Hunter." Hoshi Sato, dressed in oriental clothes, with a decided oriental look, greeted her on her way out of the Antechamber.

"Like you could do better, little miss Monster-less. What kind of crap duelists does South Korea put out?" Emily scoffed.

"We'll see who is a crappy duelist, Hunter, when I win the World Championship." Hoshi scowled.

"Yeah right. You can't even beat that Vaniver kid." Emily walked off toward the stands.

"You watch, Hunter!"

"I will, Sato!"

-O-

"Next duel will be Sevanos Otaga with the Seraph Knight Kojiro versus Set, with Themen the Great Sphinx."

"Why does Set sound familiar?" Pegasus pondered.

"He's a duelist, the Egyptian duelist, you know, sphinxes, pyramids, and mummies." Ardrea explained.

"Could he be connected to Hathor?" Raven asked Sevanos.

"I don't know." Sevanos eyed a duelist in a dark outfit moving toward the stadium, "That's my charge."

-O-

"I summon my Sphinx Warrior of Darkness!" The deep voice of Set commanded, as an Eye of Anubis began to glow on his forehead. A warrior with a large staff and a sphinx mask arose before him, with nineteen hundred points of attack.

"A Yami, eh?" Sevanos drew, "Don't think that'll save you." He examined his hand. "Summon my Kelbek in defense mode and set one card face-down. Go."

"Set two cards and have my Sphinx attack!" Although the Sphinx defeated the fairy, it fizzled out of existence.

"Too bad. My move. Summon my Durames Dark Witch!" An angelic witch came to be in front of him, "Witch, attack!"

"Reveal Ring of Destruction and-"Set began.

"I activate Reverse of Reverse! This allows me to activate one of your face-down spell or trap cards. I choose the only one I can, Barrel Behind the Door!" Sevanos smiled.

"Wrong, Sevanos. You activate my Pyramid Energy, giving your monster a boost in attack power. That's half of both our Life Points." Set smiled, "And now it's my move!" He drew, "You're done, Sevanos. I play Pyramid of the Ancients!" The ground began to rumble as a pyramid came from beneath it to surround them, "Now, summon Sphinx Warrior of Darknesss!" Another Sphinx Warrior came to the field, with an attack increase of 700, putting it at 2600 points of attack, "Sphinx, finish him!"

Sevanos got beat over the head by the Sphinx, knocking him down. Set walked over to him, drew the Seraph Knight, and walked away.

-O-

"That was so fast..." Aura watched in horror.

"These 'S List' people tend to make short work of their opponents." Ardrea explained.

Set entered the Antechamber. "An easy victory."

"We'll see, Set." Raven eyed him angrily.

"Ah, the Vaniver boy. Lady Hathor told me about you. Said you'd become a nuisance." Set laughed, "I doubt you'll have the chance."

"Shut up, Set." Another duelist entered, wearing distinctly Egyptian clothes and an odd black Duel Disk Raven had never seen before. "The sound of your voice irritates me."

"Ah, Shikeru. A pleasure seeing you here." Set smiled.

"Stuff the pleasantries. Your disgusting display out there dishonored the Sphinxes. You'll pay." The man, Shikeru Ryou, glared twice as angrily as Raven.

"Well, I don't think the plastic-coated paper minds too terribly much." Set laughed.

"You're wrong." Ardrea said angrily. "The cards are more than just plastic-coated paper."

"And they do mind." Pegasus added.

"Quit speaking, Pegasus, you're showing your senility." Set scowled. "If you think I've done the Sphinxes wrong, stop me." He addressed Shikeru.

"Set. The time for games is over." A familiar voice called thorough the Antechamber. Lantash. Lantash had an Eye of Anubis on his forehead too.

"C'mon, Hathor won't mind." Set smiled back.

"We can't spare time to bother with them, Set. They're nothing. We are something. Two separate classes, only to meet when forced to on the field of battle. In there, not out here." Lantash explained.

"The next match-up: The United States' Illarya Eden with the great Destiny Board versus Canada's Dominic Hatch with the End of Anubis." The overly pleasant woman smiled and walked out.

"Can you do it, Illarya?" Raven asked.

"I used to do this for a living, more or less." Illarya smiled.

"Yeah, well you really didn't, did you? It was your darker half. Little Miss God-King." Raven countered. "I'm worried that the fate of Heart of the Cards will fall on me alone. For this whole ride, I've had people to rely on."

"You won't forever, Raven." Kaomi replied. "Fact of the matter is, that although I will always be there for you, I'm no where near as good of a duelist as you. Odds are I don't make it past this round." Kaomi sighed, "When you duel, inevitably, you duel alone. Your friends are there to support you, but you're not on the field. They can't make the calls for you."

"Kaomi, it sounds like you've given up hope." Serenity said, concerned, "Granted, hope does dangle precariously, but you can't just give up. Where there's life, there's hope. You'd do well to remember that."

"Yeah. Hope for a better tomorrow." Cid said, plainly.

"Hope for the support of your friends." Shikeru interjected.

"Hope for triumph over the darkness." Illarya smiled, "I'm proof of that one."

"Hope that someone will be there for you." Raven nodded.

"Hope that out there, in the vast world, one gloriously diluted fool still believes in us. Believes we're doing the right thing. Believes in the Heart of the Cards." Ardrea sighed. "I really hope so."

"Hope that this annoying round robin of hope ends at me." Pegasus said, in his normal singsong manner.

"Yeah," Shuyin laughed, "Hope that we can shut up and duel."

"That was possibly the most corny dozen lines I've heard in my life. It takes real effort to sound that horribly, painfully corny. Thanks." Kaomi smiled, "Now get out there and duel your best, Illarya. I only hope it's good enough."

"Can we not say 'hope'?" Shuyin winced.

-O-

"Draw!" Illarya looked at her hand, "You're going down, Dominic!"

"Talk big, Illarya. You need to reassure yourself." The Canadian responded. He was probably about forty. He showed just how popular and outside the target audience the game had become.

"I summon Sangan in defense mode and set three cards face-down. Go." Illarya smiled.

"I'll set one face-down card and summon Kycoo, the Ghost Destroyer." Dominic smiled, "Kycoo, attack!"

The Sangan's soul became exercised from its body, shattering it. Illarya smiled, "Not only do I now get my monster Sangan left me, Witch of the Black Forest, but I activate Rope of Life, returning my Sangan. Now I activate Polymerization, combining my two monsters to create Sangan-Witch! Thusly retrieving two Watapon! These cute creampuffs are instantly Special Summoned." A Sangan in odd robes and two little balls of fluff appear before her.

"So you plant to beat me with furballs and creampuffs? I could eat those little Watapon!" Dominic scoffed.

Both Watapon developed a look of fright.

"Not quite, Hatch. I offer my two Watapon for the great Day Falcon of Council!" A great bird flew down from the ceiling of the arena. It seemed to shimmer in sunlight what wasn't there. "Not only does my Falcon have just under three thousand attack," 2900 to be exact, "but should there be cards removed from play, they would now return to the Graveyard." Illarya explained, "Now, Sangan-Witch, with your 2100 points of attack, get rid of Kycoo!"

"Reveal Wabaku!" Dominic smiled, "Think it'd that easy?"

"Close to that easy. Activate Destiny Board." Illarya smiled, "Got ya."

"Think again!" Dominic drew, "Mystical Space Typhoon!"

"I still control the field." Illarya gestured to her monsters.

"For how long. Illarya?" Dominic drew, "Activate Snatch Steal!"

"Reveal Remove Brainwashing." Illarya smiled, "Not that easy, is it, Dominic?"

"Dark Hole!" Dominic called as a great vortex swallowed Illarya's monsters. "And I summon my Spirit Reaper in defense mode."

"My move!" Illarya drew, "go Vorse Raider. Since I know Spirit Reaper is immune to attacks, you can go."

"Activate Monster Reborn, returning my Kycoo, and I'll set this card. Go." Dominic smiled.

"Set a monster in defense mode and another face-down cards. Go." Illarya waved him on.

"I'm getting bored." Dominic smiled, "Kycoo, attack the defensive monster."

"My Old Vindictive Magician! My aged caster banishes your Spirit Reaper!" Illarya smiled.

"Good for you." Dominic waved her on.

"Yeah. It is. I play Deamoness of Council in defense mode. Vorse, attack the Ghost Destroyer!"

"Reveal Wabaku!"

"How'd I guess? Your move." Illarya sighed.

"Kycoo, defend."

"Wise. Now it's my move. Sacrifice Demoness of Council and Vorse Raider for Cosmo Queen, and equip her with the Black Pendant! Queen, attack!"

The Ghost Destroyer was blown away by the pendant-wearing majesty. Dominic drew. The Remove Brainwashing card stopped him from taking control of Illarya's Cosmo Queen... This was bad. He had to take a chance. "Set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Queen, attack!"

"Reveal Ring of Destruction!" Dominic smiled. The ring of bombs appeared around the Queen and exploded, destroying it. Dominic's Life Points fell to 100, whereas Illarya's rested at 600, thanks to the Black Pendant.

"You're hoping I can't defend myself." Illarya reasoned., "Too bad I can play my Gear Golem the Moving Fortress in defense mode." The great metal golem appeared before her.

"Not bad, I will defend as well." Dominic smiled.

"No more games." Illarya drew, "Offer for Doma, the Angel of Silence. Doma, attack!"

"Cyber Jar!" Dominic smiled, watching both fields clear.

"I draw Vampire Lady, Watapon, Night Assailant, Night Assailant, and Buster Blader." Illarya smiled.

"Airknight Parshath, The End of Anubis, Mystical Space Typhoon, Creature Swap... and Premature Burial."

"Too bad. Vampire Lady, devour the last of his Life Points!" The vampire lunged at Dominic. "That, as they say, is that." The Vampire Lady took the End of Anubis from his hand and gave it to Illarya, who exited to the antechamber.

-O-

The now conscious Sevanos greeted her, "Good work, Illarya."

"Made your mentor proud." Cid smiled.

"Yeah. That was an easy win for you." Raves congratulated her.

"That's enough from the peanut gallery." Lantash said, approaching Illarya, "Illarya, dear. There's hope for you. Join us. Lady Hathor could use someone like you. Of course, you're a little less than you used to be, but we can work together to get the old you back."

"No." Illarya said forcefully, "I'll never go back to being who I was."

"At least," Lantash touched her hair, "Consider it." He began to walk off.

"Lantash." Illarya's called after him

Lantash spun to face her.

"If you ever touch me again, I'll kill you." Illarya said, calmly.

Lantash smiled and walked off.

"Next up!" The pleasant woman returned, "The U.S.A's Maximillion Pegasus with the elusive Blue Eyes Shining Dragon versus Lantash, also from the States, with the Chaos Emperor Dragon."

"Well, well. Let the games begin!" Pegasus laughed.

"Good luck, Sir Pegasus!" Ardrea cheered.

"Suck up." Illarya said under her breath.

-O-

"Alright, Lanny-boy. Let's see what you're made of." Pegasus smirked, activating his Duel Disk.

"Are you sure you want to do this, old man?" Lantash smiled, "Don't worry, we'll all hold it against you."

"Talk big." Pegasus drew, "Because all the talk in the world can't save you from a world of nightmares unlike you've ever known. A world of suppresses. A world of Toons!" Pegasus activated his Toon World spell. His Life Points fell to 3000.

"Pegasus, how old are you? And still playing with cartoons?" Lantash shook his head.

"We'll see if that stupid grin stays on your face after I summon my Toon Gemini Elf in attack position, and set this card face-down. Go." Pegasus smiled at Lantash, "I don't need a Millennium Eye to predict moves of a Chaos Duelist such as yourself."

"Summon D. D. Warrior Lady in defense mode!"

"Reveal the Gorgan's Eye!" Pegasus laughed, "When your Defensive monsters are destroyed, half their attack value is deducted from your Life Points. Not like that matters." Pegasus' Life Points fell to 2500 as the Toon Elves launched a direct assault. "And my Elves take a card from your hand to the grave. Your precious Jinzo!" Pegasus smiled, "Gone, but not forgotten."

Lantash smiled, his Life Points down to 2100, "Now, I summon Tribe-Infecting Virus, discarding my Sgining Angel to destroy your Spellcaster monsters, allowing me to remove my two monsters from play to summon my Chaos Emperor Dragon, Envoy of the End!"

"What?" Pegasus looked shocked.

"Dragon, obliterate the old man!" Lantash smiled as the dragon's attack knocked Pegasus down. "Some Creator. You stink at your own game."

Pegasus stood and tossed Lantash the Shining Dragon. He walked off.

-O-

"Pegasus!" Ardrea ran to his side, "Master Pegasus, lend me your Duel Disk."

Pegasus said nothing, but deactivated the disk and handed it to Ardrea.

"Next up, Hoshi Sato from South Korea with her Exchange of the Spirit versus a Japanese duelist who qualified in China, Koji Isamu, with Requiem, one of the rarest monsters in the game!"

"Koji Isamu?" Sevanos raised an eyebrow.

"Eliminated by Sora Takahashi, round one, Fallen Star Cup." Illarya replied.

"A duelist of heart." Serenity replied.

"I've heard of Hoshi." Ardrea put Pegasus' Disk on, "A duelist who uses no monster cards."

"That's odd." Kaomi said.

"More like insane." Shikeru spoke up again.

"Not entirely." Cid stared as the woman, Hoshi, entered the arena, "If she has enough prowess with the spells and traps in her deck, she could very well succeed without monsters."

"Cid, can I borrow your Shining Dragon?" Ardrea asked.

"Sure." Cid pulled it from his deck, "What are you doing?"

"I've used a deck like this one for three years. I'm proving to that jerk Lantash that it can out-duel him any day. I'm reclaiming the honor he stole from Pegasus." Ardrea took the Dragon, "Thank you, Cid." Ardrea walked into the hall outside the antechamber.

"Check it out, the duel's underway!" Shuyin called.

"I'm heading to the stands with Kaya." Sevanos exited.

-O-

"Zolga, attack!" Koji ordered. The great fairy flew at Hoshi, who only had her Infinite Cards, her Share the Greed card, and two face-down cards.

"Reveal my Shadow Spell!" Chains shot from her spell, ensnaring the Zolga.

"Fine, I offer Zolga and Mystical Elf to summon Ark!" A great metal ship flew down from the sky and came to reat on Koji's field, "I can't attack with my might Ark until next turn, so go."

"Too late. I activate my Cheerful Coffin, discarding two cards from my hand, and then activate Spell Reproduction, discarding a total of three more. This gives me a grant total of fifteen cards in my Graveyard, and you only have three. Exchange of the Spirit!"

"What?"

"My trap switches our decks with our Graveyards." Hoshi smiled.

-O-

"Lantash!" Ardrea approached him; "I challenge you for the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon!"

"And what do I get if I win?" Lantash smiled.

"Me." Ardrea said, impassively.

"You? Well, that's an awful high wager. Someone's confident." Lantash launched his Duel Disk.

"Let's duel!" Ardrea drew her first hand. "First, I play the Red Archery Girl in Defense Mode, and set two cards face-down."

-O-

"Go." Hoshi smiled wider as he drew.

"I summon my Zolga. Now, I launch Ark into attack mode!" The ship began to launch parst at odd angles. Slowly, legs became apparent. And arms. And a head. And from the torso, a great cannon launched. "Ark, get her!"

"Reveal Wall of Revealing Light, paying three thousand Life Points, dropping me to one thousand, to make it so your monster would more than three thousand attack to touch me." The blast from the cannon crashed into a wall.

-O-

"You think me a fool? I know how Chaos decks work, Lantash. So I play this, Prophecy! After studying your play styles from the two duels during Sevvy-boy's last tournament and now, I predict you have one monster in your hand, with well over 2000 attack points. I predict, furthermore, that that monster is the Chaos Emperor Dragon, Envoy of the End!"

Lantash scowled. His Dragon began to shimmer and floated across the field to Ardrea's hand.

"Nice one, huh? Well, now I play this card, the Index of Toon World. This lets me retrieve and activate the Toon World card for free." The Toon World book appeared in a cloud of cartoon-esque smoke. "Now I play these cards, Summoner of Illusions, Toon Mermaid, and Toon Goblin Attack Force. I offer my Toon for my other great Toon monster, the Toon Summoned Skull, and use my Summoner to offer the Mermaid to being forth the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Ardrea smiled as the Ultimate Dragon appeared before her, "Since I loose my Dragon at the end of this turn, and I'm farily confident your face-down card is a Wabaku, I will offer it for this card!" She held a card in the air. The Ultimate Dragon exploded, and the pieces began reforming. Behind the new dragon, a bright light made only its silhouette visable. That was, of course, until blue lights lit all over it. "My Blue Eyes Shining Dragon!" Ardrea called, "Your move."

"A long move. That's for sure." Lantash drew, "Activate Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying Toon World." Lantash looked at his hand. He was Envoy-less. "And play a monster in defense mode. Go."

"Don't mind if I do. I thank you for destroying my Summoned Skull, for now I remove it and my Ultimate Dragon from play to summon your Chaos Emperor Dragon!" Ardrea laughed, "Emperor, attack!"

-O-

"Come on, Koji, draw." Hoshi smiled. Koji was out of a deck.

"I can't." He conceded.

"Looks like I win your Requiem." Hoshi took the card from him and walked off.

-O-

"Now, my Blue Eyes, obliterate the last of his Life Points!" Ardrea called. The Shining Dragon launched its attack on Lantash, knocking him to the ground. Ardrea walked across the battlefield as it faded away. She bent down next to him, "Don't disrespect my mentor. He made this game, and you're out here breaking it." Ardrea took the Shining Dragon and walked back to the antechamber.

Sevanos had caught the end of their match on his way to the stands. "Good show, Amun."

-O-

"Next game, Serenity Tesconé of Japan, with the Spell Weaver, versus the Chinese duelist Masami Takizawa, who possesses the Invader of Darkness." The pleasant woman smiled.

"Wish me luck." Serenity entered the stadium as Ardrea entered the antechamber.

"Here." She handed Cid his card back, "And for you," She handed Pegasus his Duel Disk, and deck, with the Shining Dragon resting atop it.

"Thank you, Ardrea." Pegasus nodded, "I may go join Sevvy-boy up in the stands."

"I'd love to join you, sir, but I'd much rather remain here." Ardrea bowed to him.

"As you wish." Pegasus exited the room.

-O-

"I summon Harpie Lady in defense mode and active ate Elegant Egotist, bringing forth my Harpie Lady Sisters in attack mode." Serenity smiled, "Go."

"I activate Graceful Charity." Masami drew, "And discard Double Snare and Invader of Darkness. Now I summon my Dark Blade. Blade, take out her Harpie Lady!"

"My move!" Serenity drew, "Offer my Sisters for the Dark Magician Girl, and then activate Sage's Stone!" The Dark Magician Girl and the Dark Magician appeared on the field, "And sacrifice my Magicians for the Sorcerer of Dark Magic!" As the two Magicians vanished, another rose to take its place, this one with a grand total of 3200 points of attack, "Attack!" Serenity ordered.

"Fine." Masami drew, her Life Points spiraling down to 2600, "Pot of Greed." She drew again, "Mystic Tomato, defend. And set these cards face-down" three face-down cards appeared before her.

"Sorcerer, attack!"

"Mystic Tomato allows me to get my Witch of the Black Forest." Masami drew, "And play Sangan in Defense Mode. Witch, defend as well. Go."

"Attack the Sangan." Serenity sounded bored.

"Getting a Mystic Tomato, which I summon in defense mode." Masami waved Serenity on.

"Speed deck? Seems like you stall fairly well. Take out the Witch." Serenity ordered.

"Your lightning-fast offensive makes me jealous, Serenity, but your choice of cards leaves something to be desired." Masami looked through her deck, "Newdoria, which I summon in Defense Mode."

"No. I like my choice in monsters. That's what's important. Now watch this. Monster Reborn the Dark Magician and activate Knight's Title, transforming it into the Dark Magician Knight!" A magic swordsman appeared before Serenity, enchanting his blade, "Which will instantly destroy your Newdoria, rendering it's effect harmless. Now, Magician Knight, take out her Tomato!" The knight attacked the evil food-product.

"My other Newdoria!" Another odd creature sprung forth.

"Sorcerer, attack!" Serenity smiled. She knew Newdoria could take the Sorcerer out with its effect, but the Direct Damage would be a decent amount.

"Newdoria, activate effect, take the Sorcerer to the Grave with you!" Masami smiled, "My traps are free again." She drew, Life Points down to 800, "Set three cards and summon Slate Warrior! Go."

"Knight, attack!" Serenity ordered, not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

"Reveal Raigeki Break! Discard one card to destroy your monster."

"Set a monster to defend and three cards of my own face-down. Go." Serenity closed her eyes. She may have a Life Point lead, but she had totally lost field control... unless...

"Monster Reborn! Return your Sorcerer of Dark Magic to my field, rendering your face-down cards useless! Now, Slate Warrior, attack!" A woman with a sword, Kanan the Swardsmistress, was clobbered. "Sorcerer, her Life Points.

And here it was, she was tied with her opponent at a mere 800 Life Points, with a total lack of field control. Only one card in her deck was powerful enough to win this... "Draw!" Serenity began laughing.

"Have you gone mad?" Masami asked.

"Maybe." Serenity conceded, "But I've just won."

"Look at your field. Three cards I've negated, no monsters... what can you do?" Masami asked.

"This." She threw down her newly drawn card, "I summon Amazoness Swards Woman!" Serenity smiled, "All battle damage I'd take because of her, you take. You know what that means?" Serenity smiled, "See? Trust in the Heart of the Cards." Serenity drew her hand back, "Swards Woman, attack the Sorcerer of Dark Magic!"

"No!" Masami screamed. The Sorcerer counterattacked, shattering the Swards Woman. Her Life Points fell to zero.

"I'll take that Invader of Darkness." Serenity smiled. Cheers really rose for the first time in the tournament.

-O-

"Next up, Japan's Cidofolos Orlandu with the other Blue Eyes Shining Dragon versus the British Molly Dent with Jinzo." The pleasant woman smiled.

"Make the Blue Eyes proud, Cid!" Ardrea smiled.

"Yeah!" Kaomi cheered.

-O-

"I hear tell you got stomped." Illarya smiled, approaching Lantash in the hall outside the antechamber.

"Rethink my offer?" Lantash asked, smiling.

"No." Illarya shook her head, "I just came to mock you."

-O-

"Let's go, Dent!" Cid launched his Duel Dick.

Molly said nothing, but launched hers, "I will go first." She drew. "Summon Familiar Knight in defense mode. Also set two cards face-down. Go."

"Summon my Dragon Dwelling in the Cave in defense mode and set two cards of my own face-down. Your move, Molly Dent."

"Summon Giant Orc. Orc, destroy his Dragon!" The large monster demolished the dragon.

"You gone and made me mad. Luster Dragon #1, come forth and attack the Orc!"

The Ginat Orc was destroyed. "Your lucky my Orc has to defend after it attacks." Molly drew, "Go, Breaker the Magical Warrior!" Molly paused, "That's all for me."

"I activate the special effect of my Thunder Dragon, discarding it to add two more to my hand. Then I play this card!" Cid's field slot slid open, "Fusion Gate! This allows me to fuse monsters at will, without use of Polymerization." The floor of the arena tourned black with interlacing green lines, froming green boxes over the pitch black surface of the floor, "So I fuse my two Thunder Dragons, and my Curse of Dragon with my King of the Swamp, to from my Gaia the Dragon Champion and Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon!" Cid could hear Raven and Kaomi cheer from the antechamber. He knew the Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon represented their bond with each other, and he had it in his deck to remind him of whom he started this odd quest with. "See, Molly, the Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon represents my two closest friends, Raven Vaniver and Kaomi Itai, and as long as they're here beside me, I can't lose!"

"How cute." Molly laughed, "You have fun with that."

-O-

Illarya and Lantash stood silent in the hallway. Illarya finally broke the silence, "Who is Hathor?"

"She's a great woman. She's about five thousand years old, but honestly looks like she's twenty." Lantash explained, "She's spent the last few millennia waiting for the time to be right to bring about the enslavement of the human race, and now that the Pharaoh is back and Anubis has been banished, she sees it as being the perfect time to launch her plans!"

"And you get what by serving her?" Illarya asked.

"A position of power in her new world order." Lantash smiled, "You could have one too."

"I'll have to pass." Illarya said. She knew she was in the best position for running reconnaissance.

-O-

"Attack!" Cid ordered his monsters.

"Reveal Wabaku/!" Molly smiled, drawing, "Activate Snatch Steal, taking control of your friends, the Twin Headed Thunder Dragon!" Molly laughed as the Dragon floated across the field.

"Sorry, Molly." Cid smiled, "Reveal Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell, discarding Polymerization... like I needed that anyway." Cid smiled as his Dragon returned to him.

"Breaker, defend. And pay 300 points of your Attack Factor to take care of Cid's last trap!" Breaker threw its sword through Cid's face-down Dragon's Rage.

"Draw!" Cid smiled, "Offer Luster Dragon #1 for Luster Dragon #2, and as for my Thunder Dragon, here goes Dragon Nails, raising it's attack by 500 points, putting it at 3300 points of attack!" Cid smiled, "Sorry Molly, but this phase of the tournament separates the kids from the grown-up, and I guess we see which you are. Now, my Dragons attack. Gaia and Luster, her knights!"

"My Familiar Knight lets me summon a level four monster in its place. I bring forth my Raremetal Dragon."

"So do I. Raremetal, attack hers!" The two Raremrtals attacked one another, both shattering, "Now, Thunder Dragon, her Life Points!" The Thunder Dragon shot a blast of electric breath at Molly, pushing her back a few feet, "Make your move."

Molly Dent drew. Her Life Points had fallen to 700, and she had nothing to save her.

"No? Well let me finish this then." Cid smiled, "Thunder Dragon, attack!" The Thunder Dragon's attack knocked Molly against the back wall. "You can keep your cruddy Jinzo. I've no need for it." Cid walked off.

"What was that?" Molly stared at Cid as he walked off.


	23. Hand of Hathor

"Whose next?" Raven asked as the obnoxiously pleasant announcer woman returned.

"You, Japanese Champion Raven Vaniver with the Tyrant Dragon, are up against the duelist from Egypt Shikeru Ryou wit the rare Orichalcos Curse Card."

"Let's play, Shikeru!" Raven smiled.

-O-

"My move!" Raven drew, "Go, Kanan the Swardsmistress in attack mode!" Raven slid a card face-down.

"Nice opener, Raven." Shikeru drew, "Banisher of the Light in defense mode!" he set two cards face-down.

"My move again." Raven studied his hand. He needed at least 2050 points of attack. He needed a way to summon his Dark Magician. And he had it. "Cost Down!" Raven smiled, "I discard the Mirage Knight to lower the level of the monsters in my hand, so I can offer my Swardsmistress to play my Dark Magician!" The red armored mage came forth, white hair peaking out from under his hat, "Magician, attack!"

"Not bad, but I plan to kick this up, Raven. First I reveal my Pyramid of Light!" A pyramid of blue light closed in around them, "And now that it's my move, I activate the Orichalcos Curse Card!" His field slot opened, and he slid the card in. The strange symbols around his Life Point meter began to gleam a bright green, and above them a ring of green light with the same runes on it formed. The ring began to spin rapidly as it fell to the ground. Then lines connected several times making one large star-like rune in the center. It was the exact symbol as depicted on the card. The same symbol appeared on Shikeru's forehead, and his eyes took a decided red gleam.

"Uh-oh." Raven watched the impressive battle animation.

-O-

"Well, don't get me wrong, Lantash. This has been remarkably disturbing. I hope to have the chance to really hurt you in there, but for now, I'm outta here." Illarya turned to leave.

"Say what you will, I can tell it's your way of showing me that you care." Lantash smiled.

"In your sick, twisted dreams, Lantash." Illarya walked into the antechamber.

Lantash smiled and walked away.

-O-

"Say goodbye to your Magician, as I pay 1000 Life Points to summon Andro-sphinx and Sphinx Teleia. Now, my Teleia, it's feeding time!" The Sphinx with the human head lunged at the Dark Magician.

"Reveal Mirror Force!" Raven smiled. Teleia crashed into a wall of multi-colored light and her attack crashed into Andro-Sphinx.

"Not bad, Vaniver, except now I pay 1000 more Life Points to summon Theimen the Great Sphinx!" The two destroyed Sphinxes combined to from another beast, this one with an attack skyrocketing to 6500. A Symbol of Orichalcos apprised on both the head's foreheads, and both sets of eyes gleamed red, as the attack power increased to 7200.

Raven looked at Theimen. He was just one card short, here. He needed a miracle with this draw. He got a card to help him stall, but not what he needed. "Set one card face-down and summon Breaker the Magical Warrior in defense mode. Breaker, activate effect, destroy the Orichalcos Curse Card!" Breaker threw it's sword into the center of the arena, destroying the Curse Card, lowering Theimen to 6500 points of attack, and returning Shikeru and his beast to their normal conditions, "Dark Magician, defend. Go, Shikeru."

Shikeru drew, "Summon Peton the Dark Clown in defensive position. Theimen, consume the Dark Magician."

Raven drew. Nothing. "Go."

"Offer my Dark Clown for my Kiser Glider!" A dragon appeared next to the Sphinx. "Glider, destroy Breaker." Shikeru smiled, "You fought well. Theimen, attack!" The crowd gasped as the great sphinx flew at Raven. A cloud of smoke arose. As it settled, Raven stood, Life Points resting at 2000. "How?"

"Trigger spell card, Heart Reborn!" Raven smiled, "When my Life Points drop to zero, this card raises them to 2000. Nice try."

"You bought yourself a turn, Vaniver." Shikeru said, crossly.

Raven smiled, "Your monster's weakness is its defense. Although you monster has 6500 points of attack, it only has 3000 poins of defense."

"So?" Shikeru snapped.

"Activate Enemy Controller and Monster Reborn! Come back Dark Magician!" Raven's Mage returned to him, as the Great Sphinx defended itself.

"Still don't see the plan..." Shikeru sighed.

"Activate spell card Shinato's Ark, offering my Dark Magician and my Blowback Dragon to play my Shinato, King of a Higher Plane!"

"Shinato can destroy my monster!" Shikeru stepped back.

"Worse than that, Shikeru, Shinato deducts a destroyed monster's attack points from your Life Points!" Raven smiled, "Ye shall be judged!" Shinato shot a blast at Theimen. "Game over, Shikeru!"

When the dust settled Shikeru handed Raven a copy of the Curse Card. "Be careful with this card, Raven. It has power greater than you'd think." Shikeru began to walk away.

"Shikeru, was that one trap called the 'Pyramid of Light'?" Raven asked.

"Yeah, why?" Shikeru asked, looking over his shoulder.

"No reason." Raven walked off. He remembered the note he found from Shadi a day earlier.

-O-

"Kaomi, that trap was caked the Pyramid of Light." Raven said to her.

"So?" Kaomi tilted her head. Raven handed her a piece of paper, which she read aloud, "Raven, You have handled this task better than brilliantly. If anyone should wield these scales it should be you. I apologize for taking them back from you, but I had little choice. I am of the opinion that the Millennium Puzzle, Millennium Ring, the Millennium Rod, the Millennium Eye, the Millennium Necklace, the Millennium Key, and your Millennium Scales will need to gather again soon. This said, rumor tells of an eighth. Rumor also has it that before departing for America, the Pharaoh destroyed it. I do not believe the second rumor. It's possessor, Anubis, was destroyed, and banished from the Pyramid of Light, but I believe the shattered Pyramid wasn't the authentic one. I am of the belief that the authentic Pyramid of Light shall reveal itself to you. Bide your time and wait for its arrival or my return. In the meantime, Raven, do enjoy yourself. You deserve a break. Play the game, become as well known as the Pharaoh himself, and have fun! Life has much to offer. You will do well to enjoy it. You have a lifetime of challenges to your honor and to the Pyramid and to those you care for, so the reprieve should be indulged in. Best Wishes, Shadi." Kaomi paused, "Shadi?"

"The turban dude, remember?" Raven smiled.

"Oh, yeah. Him." Kaomi folded the note and handed it to Raven, "It's just a coincidence."

"A series of odd coincidences can be construed as fate." Ardrea said to Kaomi.

-O-

"Lantash. You're late." Set said, standing by the entrance to the building.

"I stopped to talk to Illarya." Lantash replied.

Set looked visibly angry, "What? Why?"

Lantash shot him a glare, "We could help her restore her Yami form. You should have seen Yami Illarya. A ruthless leader with hopes of enslaving the world, much like Lady Hathor."

"You're hopeless, Lantash." Set shrugged, "Come, Lady Hathor will arrive soon." Set walked outside, followed by Lantash.

-O-

"Next up is Kaomi Itai, the Japanese duelist with Envoy of the Beginning, against Seeker, the American Exodia Duelist."

Kaomi just laughed and entered the arena.

-O-

"Let's go, little girl!" Seeker drew his first hand.

"After how badly Sevanos beat you in the Fallen Star Cup, then how badly Aura beat you in California, and your crushing defeat at the hands of the King of Games in Battle City... face it Seeker, Exodia decks just don't work for you. Epically since you've cheated your way here. Yeah, be careful with that old Rare Hunter outfit of yours, I can see the bracer feeding cards into your hand." Kaomi pointed to Seeker's right arm, "I assume your first five cards have already been switched out for Exodia."

"What? You think I'd cheat?" Seeker scoffed.

"Honestly, I wouldn't expect you to play fair." Kaomi smiled.

Two officals from the Tournament approached Seeker, checked his arm, and sure enough found a device designed to take cards from his hand and feed in pieces of Exodia. They ripped it off, and walked away.

"Wanna play fair now, Seeker?" Kaomi smiled.

"How did you know?" Seeker reshuffled his deck.

"Saw you loading it in the antechamber earlier." Kaomi smiled.

"Let's go, little girl!" Seeker drew his first hand, again.

"You say that to me again, I will personally beat you to death with my Duel Disk." Kaomi eyed her hand, "Summon Nimble Momonga in defense mode and set two cards face-down."

"Summon Sacred Crane and set a card face down."

Kaomi smiled, "Nimble Momonga, attack the Sacred Crane!"

"What?" Seeker looked stupefied. The squirrel flew at the Crane, which struck it down. Seeker laughed.

"Laugh it up." Kaomi's Life Points rose to 4400, and two more Momonga appeared on her field, "Offer my two new Nimble Momonga for my Seiyaryu!"

"Reveal the Jar of Greed trap card!" Seeker drew a card. He paused, and then drew another, "Graceful Charity" He drew three more, "Discarding Sacred Crane and Exodus Blade." He smiled, "Now, Monster Reborn, return my Sacred Crane, allo0wing me to draw one card, and giving me two Cranes."

"Wow. That all ya got? Summon Dark Blade! Blade and Seiyaryu, attack!" Kaomi smiled as her monsters took out Seeker's Cranes.

"Summon Sangan in defense mode. Go."

"Summon King of the Swamp. King, take out San-"Kaomi froze. She knew Blade and Seiyaryu could end this, Seeker must have figured it out as well. "No. You know I would destroy Sangan... you must have four pieces of Exodia already."

"Smart girl. End the game now, Kaomi." Seeker taunted.

"Set three cards face-down and end my turn." Kaomi scowled. As stupid as it sounded, she had to keep him from attacking a monster more powerful than Sangan.

"Sangan, attack Seiyaryu!" Seeker smiled.

"Trigger trap card, Wall of Revealing Light, paying 2000 of my Life Points so that Sangan can't attack." Kaomi smiled. That was a smart move... sort of.

"Go." Seeker seemed annoyed.

Kaomi drew.

-O-

Lantash and Set stood outside.

"Lantash. Wait here. I'm going to go take care of something." Set walked inside.

"Hey!" Lantash called after him.

-O-

_I can't attack Sangan, but I can't just sit here forever. _Kaomi reasoned, _I've gat to do something... and I think I know what._ Kaomi threw down her Pot of Greed. Kaomi drew her two cards slowly. A great smile swept her face. "Offer Seiyaryu and Dark Blade for the Dark Magician!" Kaomi's dark armored mage came forth.

"Have you lost it, girlie?" Seeker laughed, "The Dark Magician is worse off than your Seiyaryu was!"

"Really?" Kaomi smiled, "Activate Dedication through Light and Darkness!" Kaomi watched light and dark energy infuse her mage, transforming it, "Behold, my Dark Magician of Chaos!"

"So?" Seeker shook his head, "Three hundred more points of attack."

"And a nifty little effect. My monster won't dispatch your furry friend to the Grave, but remove it from the game. Meaning no Exodia for you." Kaomi observed her Magician ready it's staff, "Dark Magician of Chaos, Ultimate Silence!" Kaomi ordered. The Sangan shattered, and the resulting Life Point damage made Seeker wince. "Last move, Exodia lover. Can you pull a rabbit out of your deck?"

Seeker drew. He paused, and then played a defensive monster.

"No? Too bad." Kaomi drew. "Remove Seiyaryu and Dark Magician from play to bring forth my chaotic solder, my Envoy of the Beginning!" Kaomi paused, letting Seeker realize just how screwed he was. "Ultimate Silence, take away the monster!" Kaomi didn't even bother to check what it was. "Envoy, finish him!"

-O-

A car came to a stop before Lantash and a woman in a cloak exited. She had amazingly green eyes and long dark hair. She wore all black with the black cloak. From her neck hung a bizarre pendant. It was a blue pyramid marked with a gold Eye of Anubis.

"My mistress." Lantash dropped to one knee.

"Rise, Lantash. Where is Set?" the woman asked in a somewhat kind-sounding voice.

"Putting Shikeru in his place, I believe."

"Good. The Brothers Ryou are great forces, sadly neither much fancy us." Hathor smiled. "Show me inside." She demanded.

-O-

"Next duel is Japan's Aura Leathe with a buncha Millennium cards against the Canadian Rose Faye with the Random Alarm Clock."

-O-

"Hello, Set." Shikeru approached him from behind.

"Shikeru. You think I'm so abusive? Prove yourself." Set smiled.

They stood in an abandoned section of hall leading to another section of the complex.

"Let's play, Set." Shikery smiled, his duel disk shooting out of it's resting position.

-O-

"I set a monster and two traps. Go." Aura smiled.

"Me too." Rose copied her move.

"Reveal my Millennium Cursader, allowing me to get a monster in face-down defense mode. And I'll offer the crusader for my Millennium Shield." Aura smiled as the great shield appeared before her. "Go."

"I set another monster in defense mode and activate my trap, Solemn Wishes!" Rose grinned, "This trap grants me with five hundred Life Points per turn. Go."

Aura gritted her teeth, "Activate my Shield and Sword spell card! This reverses the Attack and Defense point of all monsters on the field, meaning..."

"Your big gold shield has three thousand points of attack." Rose closed her eyes.

"Millennium Shield, attack!" The Shield slammed into one of the monsters. A rat. "Bubonic Vermin." Aura sighed.

"My turn!" Rose smiled, her Life Points climbing to 4500, "I get a new face-down Vermin which I'll reveal to bring out the third. Now, I also reveal my Random Alarm Clock!" A clock with arms and legs appeared before her. It looked a little like the Time Wizard. "Alarm Clock, Random Alarm Roulette!" The two hands of the clock spun rapidly out of control. As they began to slow, the entire building seemed to stand still. The hands came to rest on three. "Three turns to go, Aura. Wait a second, now that I end my turn, it's two." The hands moved to the two.

"You'll lose. Mark my words." Aura drew.

-O-

"Activate Orichalcos Curse Card." Shikeru smiled, "Powering up my Andro-Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia!"

-O-

Aura smiled, "Polymerization, combining my Black Luster Solder, my Millennium Shield, and my Millennium Sword!" The Shield flew into the air, as well as a gold sword, and a great light came from them. When it faded, a solder in shining gold armor with an Eye of Anubis on the headpiece stood, holding them. "Meet the Millennium Luster Solder!" She smiled, "My solder has five thousand points of attack, by the way, so with one swing of the sword, he'll knock you out. Solder, strike down her clock and end this duel now!"

"Reveal Trap!" Rose smiled as a small ring of metal flew from the back of her clock. It came to a stop before the Luster Solder and shot a shield of energy back toward Rose. The Solder crashed head into the ring of metal, which shot a ray of energy at Rose's Duel Disk. The Solder returned to Aura's field, "That was my lovely Draining Shield, which rose my Life Points to 9500. And with only two turns to go, Aura." Rose drew, receiving a boost from Solemn Wishes to put her at 10,000, "My monsters defend, and I set a new trap for you. Go." The hands moved to one.

-O-

"I summon my Andro and Teleia and offer both for the Great Sphinx, Emissary of Thebes and my Thiemen the Great Sphinx!"

-O-

"Activate spell Temporal Portal of the Ancient Dragon, offering all the monsters in my hand and my face-down Millennium Crusader to summon the Millennium Dragon at 3250 Attack power. Now for the ultimate last-ditch effort. Polymerization!" The Solder mounted the Dragon as the earth shook, "Behold, the Dragon Knight of Millennia! This is the fusion with the greatest attack power, presently resting at 7700!" Aura smiled, "Attack! Stop the clock with Millennium Fury!" A beam of energy shot from the Solder's sword and fused with the dragon's breath, striking the clock and shattering it.

"Reveal Monster Reconstitution!" The shattered bits of the clock reformed themselves. "Let's see now... nope. Really nothing I care to do this turn." Rose smiled, "Random Alarm Clock, it's wake up time! Activate effect!" The bells on the alarm clock began to ring as both players' Life Points appeared on the field before them. Aura's read 4000, but Rose Faye had 10500 Life Points. "It's over, Aura."

Aura's Life Points fell rapidly as the ringing intensified. She fell to her knees.

"Your Millennium Sword will make a nice addition to my deck." Rose walked off.

-O-

Set approached Hathor and Lantash.

"Ryou is out of the way." Set smiled.

"Good. Can't have him or the Doom Organization stepping on our toes during Phase Two." Lantash nodded.

"Speaking of, we'll start right after this tournament." Hathor nodded.

"Yes, Hathor." Set bowed.

"Lady Hathor, why not start during the tournament?" Lantash suggested, "I mean, Phase One is complete. Seraph has fought Nemesis. If we get the Itai out of the way sooner, we can proceed to Phase Three straight after the tournament."

"Phase Three... which was that? I know Four is conquest." Set scratched his head.

"Set, you ignorance amazes me." Lantash shot him a glare, "Three is the final preparations for Four."

"Your plan is sound, Lantash. It meets with my approval."

-O-

A good hour later, the woman smiled with the announcements of the first duels of the quarter-finals. "Lantash with Chaos Emperor versus Shuyin with Ultima."

-O-

"Let's have fun, Lantash!" Shuyin smiled.

Lantash sighed, "This won't take long." He drew. "Activate spell card Painful Choice." He smiled. "Take your pick, Shuyin. Do you add to my hand my Envoy of the Beginning, my Jinzo, my D. D. Warrior Lady, my Tribe-Infecting Virus, or my Ring of Destruction."

"Ring of Destruction" Shuyin said quickly.

"Alright. In that case, I remove Jinzo and Envoy of the Beginning from play to summon my Chaos Emperor Dragon!" The Emperor Dragon appeared on his field, "And set two cards face down. Go." He smiled, having his all-powerful Dragon after the first turn.

Shuyin drew, knowing full well he was screwed. "Aw, yes! Summon Griggle in defense mode and activate the Mystic Box card! This gives you control of my monster in order to take yours to the Grave." Boxes encased the two monsters

"Not so fast, Beolve! Reveal my Ring of Destruction!" The box on Lantash's side exploded, knocking both players down to 1000 Life Points.

"Alright. You wanna play? We'll play." Shuyin sat three cards face-down. "Go, Lanny."

Lantash drew, "Activate Monster Reborn."

Shuyin cursed under his breath as the Envoy returned to the field,

"Now, summon D. D. Warrior Lady. My warrior Lady will remove your monster from play!"

Shuyin cursed loud enough for spectators to hear.

"Envoy, direct assault!" Lantash simply walked off.

-O-

Set stood opposite Cid in the arena.

"Set, duelist of the Sphinxes." Cid sized up his opponent, "You will fall."

"Cid, duelist of the Dragons." Set smiled, "No, I won't."

"We will see." Cid drew, "Summon Spear Dragon and set three cards face-down. Go."

""Summon Sphinx Warrior of Darkness, with an equal attack force, in attack mode and set one card. Your move." Set smiled.

"Equal attack for now. I first reveal Solemn Wishes, giving me five hundred Life Points when I draw. And to commence my turn, I set one card and play Foolish Burial, sending my Necromancy spell to your Graveyard." Cid grinned, "Then I play Card Destruction." Both players discarded their hands.

"What use was that? So there's a spell in my grave and we have new hands." Set scoffed.

"Activate Trap, Forced Perspective!" Cid smiled, "Forced Perspective allows me to get one card from your Graveyard and force you to play it. I select Necromancy."

"What?" Set took a step back.

"So my four monsters return. Behold, X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, Z-Metal Tank, and Dragon Dwelling in the Cave!" Cid smiled, "Now, X, Y, and Z, merge!" The three metal components flew into the air and combined.

Once they completed fusing, Set laughed, "You lost three monsters. Necromancy deducts all your monster's Attack and Defense points by 1800 points! Meaning your new powerhouse has 1000 points of attack."

Cid looked despondent, "I end my turn."

"Summon another of my Sphinxes! Now, activate the Field Spell Pyramid of the Ancients and my trip Pyramid of Light! Now I pay 1000 Life Points to summon Andro-Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia." Two more Sphinxes appeared before him as two great pyramids appeared behind him. "Teleia, take out the Dragon Cannon! Andro, the Spear Dragon."

"Activate my Reverse Trap card!" Cid smiled, as the 1800 decrease became an increase and the Sphinxes 700 point increase became a decrease. This put Andro and Teleia down to 2300, while Dragon Cannon soared to 4600, and the Spear Dragon's ATK climbed to 3700. "That's a total of 3700 points of damage, more than finishing you!" Cid smiled.

"Wrong. Reveal trap Wall of Sands!" A wall of swirling sand appeared before Set, disallowing the blast from hitting him, "My Wall prevents all battle damage. And now, I pay 1000 more Life Points to summon Theimen the Great Sphinx!" The tow fallen Sphinxes merged to make one. "Theimen has 6500 points of attack, friends." He smiled, "Too bad. I win next turn."

Cid drew and eyed his hand. He still had a chaince, but it was a little one. "Summon my new defensive monster and switch all my other monsters to defense mode as well."

"Cower, Orlandu. Since I know youre face-up monsters, I'll first destroy your Dragon Cannon." Theimen demolished the metallic dragon.

"My move!" Cid drew dramatically. This was it. "Reveal Summoner of Illusions offering my Dragon Dwelling in the Cave to form the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

"Too little, too late." Set sighed.

"Really? Now I discard Thunder Dragon to add two more to my hand. I also summon Spirit Ryu! Now, I discard Red Eyes Black Dragon, Curse of Dragon, Meteor Dragon, Thunder Dragon, Thunder Dragon, and Luster Dragons #1 and #2 to boost Ryu's attack!"

"Still too small. Now that my Sphinx is receiving its bonus from my Pyramids again, it's up to 7200 points of attack." Set folded his arms.

"And now, you fool, I offer the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" The Blue Eyes began to glow and break apart, "To summon my Blue Eyes Shining Dragon! And, with Blue Eyes, Red Eyes, Curse of Dragon, Meteor, three Thunders, both Lusters, and the Dragon Dwelling in the Cave, my Shining Dragon gets a 5000 point boost!" Cid smiled as the glowing Blue Eyes Shining Dragon appeared behind him with 8000 points of attack. "That beats your Sphinx. Blue Eyes Shining Dragon, attack!"

Set braced himself as Theimen shattered. He drew, set a card, and solemnly ended his turn, Life Points down to 1300.

"Blue Eyes, obliterate!"

"Reveal traps, Ring of Destruction and Barrel Behind the Door!" Set called. The ring of bombs exploded, dealing Cid a total of 16,000 points of damage. Set exited the arena, victorious.


	24. The Greatest Loss of All

"Why is it my force is comprised of bumbling idiots, though, Hjathor? So far, most of these so-called 'S-list' duelists have fallen." Lantash sighed with frustration.

"Well their hatred was strong, even if their decks were not." Hathor sighed as well.

"I suppose this goes to show the total superiority of the masterful Chaos deck." Lantash sat back.

"Perhaps."

-O-

Kaomi stood opposite Hoshi in the arena.

"Well, well, well... let's have a show." Hoshi drew her hand, "Activate Share the Greed, making both players draw two cards during their Draw Phase, and also play Graceful Charity. And thanks to these Spell Reproduction cards, play it two more times." She watched her Graveyard pile up.

"Draw!" Kaomi drew, "Set three cards and summon Dark Blade. Blade, attack!"

Hoashi braced herself. Her Life Points fell to 2200. She drew two cards, "Activate The Cheerful Coffin. This raises my Graveyard by two more cards. And activate one more Spell Reproduction, this time on Spell Reproduction, then on Graceful Charity. Just for added insurance. Now, I can reveal the trap, Exchange of the Spirit!"

"No! Activate Trap card Trap Bind!" Chains ensnared the Exchange of the Spirit. "As long as my trap is on the field, yours remains out as well, and without an effect."

-O-

"Tell me we'll have more competent duelists guarding the alpha site." Lantash sighed watching the sad display below.

"You and Set are in charge of that." Hathor watched, "We have to prevent her from getting in out way this time."

-O-

"Offer Dark Blade for Kyriu, and activate my spell card Rush Recklessly. Kiryu, Reckless Fire, obliterate!" the fires of Kyriu knocked Hoshi back, defeating her.

-O-

Roy Sinclair and Raven Vaniver faced off. Roy was slightly aged, and had one of the heavier French accents Raven had ever heard.

"Summon Gemini Elf." Roy smiled, "Set and end my turn."

"Let's see how your Elf handles this. Set one card and summon my Kanan the Swardsmistress in defense mode," Raven smiled.

"Gemini, attack!" Roy smiled, "Set two more."

"That it?" Raven drew, "Summon Sangan and activate the Pyro Cock, allowing me to offer it for Marie the Fallen One in attack mode. Now, with Sangan I retrieve my King of the Swamp. Here comes Polymerization! This fuses my Dark Magician and my King of the Swamp to get the Dark Paladin!" The Paladin stood next to Raven's fallen angel, "Now, to seal the deal, Heavy Storm!" A great storm blew away Roy's three face-down cards. "Paladin, destroy the elves!" The Dark Paladin shattered the Gemini Elf. "And Marie, his Life Points!" Raven set two cards as his Fallen One attacked.

Roy drew, "Viva la France!" He summoned a Spear Dragon, "Dragon, destroy his Marie!" The Spear Dragon attacked, defeating Raven's monster.

"Did you forget, Sinclair? Not only is my monster a full thousand points stronger, it is raised by five hundred points of attack for each Dragon on the field and in the Graveyard." Raven drew, "Paladin, obliterate!"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Roy smiled, "My Spear Dragon must defend." The Paladin's blade sliced clean through the Dragon. Roy drew, "I set three cards and play my Skilled Dark Magician in defense mode."

Raven drew, "Activate the Cost Down spell card, and combine it with Soul Exchange, offering your monster for the Tyrant Dragon. Tyrant, attack!"

"Mirror Force!" Roy smiled.

"Card Guard combined with Disgraceful Charity!" A shield with four cards blocked the Mirror Force, then the four cards flew back to Raven's hand. The blast from the Tyrant consumed the Skilled Magician. "My Plaldin is raised 500 more by my Tyrant, putting him at 3900, way more than enough to destroy you." Raven drew his hand back, "Attack!"

"Magic Cylinder!" The Card Shield blacked the returned fire.

"My Card Guard is in effect for a full turn." Raven watched the Paladin make its final strike.

-O-

"Do we need to worry about him?" Set asked, as Raven's match concluded and Illarya went up against Rose Faye.

"I doubt it." Hathor watched the new match intently.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Lady Hathor." Lantash interjected, "Raven seems calm and collected, but his darker side has a nasty temper. And if anything happens to the girl, he goes Yami and seeks out vengeance. It happened to Illarya's Yami form."

"So we make sure he can't find it." Set smiled.

-O-

When Illarya reentered the antechamber, Kaomi gave her a high-five, "Nice work!" Kaomi watched Serenity head out. They were now the only three, as the rest had headed to the stands.

"I can't believe this." Raven sighed, "I've had dark spirits try to kill me, and taken down self-proclaimed God-Kings bent on global domination, and took part in a classic good-versus-evil battle! Not to mention had my brain supercharged by an ancient Egyptian box for a day or so! After all of that, I come here, and these idiots can't be bothered to put up a decent fight?"

"I know. It does seem almost too easy." Kaomi sighed. "Somehow I doubt the Brothers Yami will be easy, though." She paused, "Set and Lantash are both in the semis with us."

"True. They've put up a decent fight so far." Illarya sighed.

"Something wrong?" Raven asked.

"Lantash." Illarya became angry at just saying his name; "He keeps making passes at me. But I do have information. He works for some 'Lady Hathor' and plans to take over the world. She sickens me. Sounds a lot like the old me, actually."

-O-

Ardrea stood at a vender just outside her section of the stands, "I'll take a Mountain Dew and... what did Mister Pegasus want?" She sighed, "Somehow I doubt you have red wine spritzers here..."

"No." the vender replied.

"Just a Dew, then." Ardrea took her drink and turned to see Lantash blocking her path.

"Hello, little Pegasus wanna-be." Lantash smiled.

"What do you want? I beat you fair and square." Ardrea opened her drink and took a sip.

"My dear friend, I am not here asking for a rematch. I'm here to recruit you." Lantash approached her.

"Sorry, I have enough superiors already." Ardrea tried to step past him, but he remained in her war.

"Who said you had a choice?" Lantash laughed.

-O-

Raven stood having defeated Kaomi a good hour and a half later awaiting the final round. He looked at the Envoy he had won. He wouldn't use it. It was hers.

"Now, for the finals. First, it's Raven versus Ste, then Set versus Lantash, and finally Raven versus Lantash." The plesent announcer woman called to the audience.

"Let's get this show on the road, gents." Raven smiled.

"You don't trust your dark saide to handle this for you? Shame." Set stepped forward, shadows like an aura around him.

"Duel!" Raven called, launching his disk.

-O-

Hathor stood before Kaomi in the hall outside the main arena.

"If I remember my mythology, Hathor was supposed to be nice." Kaomi scowled.

"Well, five thousand years makes one a little sour sometimes." Hathor replied as shadows engulfed her arm and formed a Duel Disk. The pyramid around her neck glistened.

Kaomi launched her disk, "I heard the Pharaoh broke that little toy."

Hathor launched hers, "A definite advantage to having unwavering supporters. They can rebuild it. They have the technology. They can make it better than it was before. Better. Stronger. Faster."

"Oh, just go to hell." Kaomi drew her first hand and looked at it, "I summon my Witch of the Black Forest in defense mode! And set this!"

"Oh, Itai, you talk so big every time. This has to be our third or fourth time going through this. I'm a God. I may have some diminished powers thanks to that campaign five millennia ago, but with the Pyramid of Light here, well, I have a hell of a lot of power." Hathor smiled, "Some forth and serve me, Dark Blade!" A dark night came forth and flew at Kaomi's monster.

As the witch shattered, Kaomi smiled, "Reveal Monster Reconstitution!" the Witch returned to the field in defensive position.

-O-

"Sphinx Teleia, attack the defensive monster!" Set screamed.

The defensive Kanan shattered. Raven drew, "I remember how to take these things out, Set. First, summon Sangan and activate my Pyro Clock allowing me to summon my Rocket Warrior, and then add Polymerization with Dark Magician and my King of the Swamp to summon the Dark Flare Knight. Now, offer my three monsters to summon the great and powerful Gilford the Lightning!" Bolts of electricity surrounded the field and from the bolts was born a great warrior. The warrior unsheathed his sword and shot from it an electrical blast destroying the Sphinx. "Gilford, obliterate!"

-O-

As the Millennium Shield stared Hathor's dark armada down, Kaomi smiled, "Looks like I'm unbreakable."

-O-

Theimen the Great Sphinx and Chaos Emperor Dragon lit the field ablaze in their power4 struggle leading to Set's defeat.

-O-

"I sacrifice Dark Blade and the Skilled Dark Magician for my great Egyptian guardian, the Valliant Sphinx, Protector of Thebes!" A giant sphinx rose from the ground. It leaped at the shield, destroying is, "Adding my Great Sphinx, Emissary of Thebes to my hand and end my turn."

-O-

Lantash and Raven stared eachother down. Lantash at too little Life Points to use his Emperor Dragon's effect and Raven lacking field control.

"Emperor, attack the defensive monster!" Lantash called.

"Reveal Negate Attack!" Raven drew and smiled, "Activate Enemy Controller, offering my monster to take CED and activate it's effect, finishing you!" Raven called.

-O-

"Now with my two Sphinxes on the3 field I play Thebian Triad summoning the third and sacrifice all three to summon my Millennium Sphinx, Master of Thebes! Millennium Sphinx, obliterate!" Shadows began to close in on Kaomi.

-O-

Lantash knelt as Raven held the Chaos Emperor Dragon, which burst into flame. Lantash laughed in a demonic harmony of voices more bone chilling than any before. "So what, Vaniver? You won the tournament. Lady Hathor won something as well. A soul close so very to your own. Surely your bond is so that you can almost sense it. Kaomi Itai has left the building!" Lantash laughed manically, "She's ours now, Raven. All ours. And we'll keep her in the shadows so she can't get in our way this time. It's game over."

Raven did not respond. He did not take his trophy. He simply ran to the hall outside the antechamber. "Kaomi!" He screamed. But he saw only one person. A woman he did not know, but assumed was Hathor, by her possession of the Pyramid of Light. "Where is she!"

"I don't know, Raven. Where does one go after losing a Shadow Game?" Hjathor smiled. Raven charged at Hathor, an Eye of Anubis shining on his forehead. Hathor simply waved her hand and flung Raven in a wall. "Did you think that would work? I'm a God with a pyramid around my neck. I'm a little out of your league, little boy."

"I'll get you." Raven struggled to his feet.

"Nice. You try that." Hathor walked away from him.

-O-

Raven sat in the hall as the others, who came to congratulate him, discussed he situation.

"This Hathor sounds powerful." Pegasus said matter-of-factly.

"We have to save her." Raven said.

"It may be impossible." Sevanos said simply.

"I can't accept that." Illarya said, siding with Raven, "You spared nothing to save me. Although that wasn't your goal, you risked a lot. And I owe the same to Kaomi. Besides, I think this was meant to happen to get us involved. This is destiny knocking at our door."

"Let's not answer!" Shuyin said loudly.

"We must. We have no choice." Aura said.

"We do. We have the choice to live." Serenity said.

"Cowardice!" Ardrea screamed.

"I'm too busy to help, what with coming out of retirement and all. But I will let Ardrea take time off to help you." Pegasus nodded.

"Thank you."

"Look, it's simple! If you want to go back to Japan and leave Kaomi to a miserable end, than do. If you want to go and face the same fate, than do. I'm going to search for a third option." Sevanos said to the group. "If you're heading back or with me we'll go to the Stars New York branch. If you want to rush into things like Illarya, the jet is all yours at the airport."

Reluctantly, everyone nodded.

"I ask that the people heading back do research into Hathor and her plans and all that. We need to be prepared for the next step. We have one month of summer left, and Kaomi probably has far less time, so we need to work fast." Raven said, "I'm going to work with Sevanos. Not because I agree with him, but because I think Illarya can lead the first wave. I'll come in as soon as Illarya finds Hathor."

"Where do we start?" Aura asked.

"Egypt." Koji Isamu approached the group, "Shikeru Ryou and I had done some look into her. I'll help you, Miss Eden, so I can finish what I started."

"Then let's go." Raven nodded.


	25. Part VI

Part VI 

Twilight of Judgment

For some reason, I think of "Shadow Games" from the Yu Gi Oh movi soundtrack while reading and writing this... like a theme song or something!

Well, Part V kind of left at an awkward spot to end it, so in the never-ending quest for a fan-supported resolution I drafted out Part VI and Part VIII in a sort of storyboard. Now I wanted literary fun for this one, so I planed only three chapters set two days after Part V. Each chapter ran alongside the others, but followed a different storyline. Admittedly weak in dueling and strong in story, these three chapters set up later.

I hope to have at least one chapter up by the new year.

Oh, and Happy Holidays from Seraph Koji!


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